“The film’s farcical elements mostly fall flat, but there’s a kernel of truth here and a grit to the performances that survive the sometimes awkward screenplay. After an awfully rocky start, Bell eventually slows down the pace and lets her scenes breathe a bit. By the end I was surprised how much I’d come to care about these people.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/31/2017
“An edgy, electrifying movie that feels a little bit dangerous. The Safdies score queasy laughs off of everyday prejudices and unquestioned assumptions, with our wily, dirtbag protagonist often eluding authorities by scapegoating innocent people of color unlucky enough to cross his path. If Good Time makes you uncomfortable, that’s because it’s supposed to.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/24/2017
INGRID GOES WEST * *
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Billy Magnussen and Wyatt Russell. Screenplay by David Branson Smith and Matt Spicer. Directed by Matt Spicer.
“There’s a sense in which Marjorie Prime is all about those reflections, and our compulsion to edit our own histories, turning the revisions into ‘facts’ over time. The film asks who gets to preserve custody of memories, both precious and otherwise, particularly in the face of a disease that eradicates recollection altogether. It’s a marvelous piece of writing.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/18/2017
“With his bleach-blonde hair, neck tattoos and delicate Lindsey Graham enunciations, Joe Bang floats through the movie on a cloud of self-delight, tickled pink by his own jokes at which he laughs in a contagious, high-pitched cackle. I’ve been watching Craig in movies for fifteen years and never would have guessed he had this kind of performance in him.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/17/2017
“Sheridan’s assured directorial debut has a lot in common with his previous screenplays in that it’s an engrossing, tough-minded thriller for adults that packs a political punch. It’s also like Sheridan’s other scripts in that the characters annoingly keep turning potent subtext into laborious text. He writes great dialogue. It’s the monologues that are a problem.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/11/2017
“Fast Times may have been marketed as another locker room romp, but the movie is made of stronger stuff. Heckerling undercuts the usual teensploitation tropes at every turn. Even co-star Phoebe Cates’ genre-required bikini stripping scene is sent up for the silly male fantasy that it is, then punctured by having her walk in on Reinhold masturbating.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/10/2017
THE DARK TOWER * *
Starring Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Katheryn Winnick and Jackie Earle Haley. Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, Anders Thomas Jensen and Nikolaj Arcel. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel.
DETROIT * * * 1 / 2
Starring John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jason Mitchell and Anthony Mackie. Screenplay by Mark Boal. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
“This is the story of ratty, low-rent crooks meeting ignoble ends, with Mitchum playing against type as a rumpled, underworld Willy Loman on his way out. The movie reeks of grubby authenticity, shot on overcast afternoons beneath the city’s most oppressive, brutalist architecture. It’s a film full of daylight glaring through dingy barroom windows.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/04/2017
SPLICED PERSONALITY 