HOME AGAIN * * 1 / 2
Starring Reese Witherspoon, Pico Alexander, Jon Rudnitsky, Michael Sheen and Candice Bergen. Written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer.
Author Archives: Sean Burns
IT
IT * * *
Starring Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor and Bill Skarsgard. Screenplay by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman. Directed by Andy Muschietti. Continue reading
COLUMBUS
“Few films are as attentive to the spaces inhabited by their characters as Columbus. The screen is almost always broken up into frames inside of frames, favoring deep-focus shots in which foreground obstacles either wall these characters off from one another or isolate them together in a little box of their own, positioned against the rest of the world.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 09/07/2017
YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN: THE END OF TWIN PEAKS
“The past is gone, the show kept reminding us. The Return was ultimately an anti-nostalgic nostalgia revival about how you can’t go home again. Lynch and Frost repeatedly, adamantly denied the comforts of the familiar, sidelined old regulars in favor of new creations and kept their most beloved character comatose for the first sixteen hours. That’s nerve.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 09/04/2017
TULIP FEVER
TULIP FEVER * *
Starring Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz, Zach Galifianakis and Judi Dench. Screenplay by Deborah Moggach and Tom Stoppard. Directed by Justin Chadwick.
ALL OUT OF BUBBLEGUM: THEY LIVE AT THE MFA
“We could read the scene as a sad visualization of the underclass (both homeless men of pointedly different races) fighting amongst themselves over nothing while their oppressors prosper. Or it could just be that Carpenter had cast a wrestler in his movie and wanted to give the guy a chance to strut his stuff. To be a fan of They Live is to realize it can be both.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 09/01/2017
GOON: LAST OF THE ENFORCERS
“Like most comedy sequels, it cranks everything up a few notches thinking audiences won’t be satisfied unless they get a louder and more outrageous version of what they enjoyed last time. And like most comedy sequels, it’s pretty lousy. There’s nowhere for this movie to go except bigger, bloodier and more ridiculous. And believe me, it gets there.” – North Shore Movies, 09/01/2017
I DO… UNTIL I DON’T
“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
GOOD TIME
“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
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.
SPLICED PERSONALITY 