If the last round-up of movies were under-liked box office busts, this crop (or 4 out of 5 anyway) are critically beloved indies or documentaries. I like to keep things interesting around here. By now, the randomness is either part of the charm of this place or the reason it’s not more successful (like a…
Reviews: “Going in Style,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4,” “Underworld: Whatever,” “Unforgettable,” “Drone”
I’m a completist. It doesn’t matter how badly reviewed a movie is or how much it tanks at the box office or maybe both (as is the case for most of these films). No matter how unnecessary a film might be to watch for reviewing purposes—is anybody really coming to Alabama Liberal with baited breath…
Reviews: “Win it All,” “Tramps,” “Small Crimes,” “Imperial Dreams,” “Burning Sands,” “Coin Heist,” “Sand Castle”
People are frequently wondering where the small indies sometimes called “Slice-of-Life” dramas went as they’ve all but disappeared from theaterical distribution. It turns out, “Netflix Original films” aren’t just for shitty Adam Sandler comedies, but also a place to find small films that now struggle to get any theaterical distribution, most of which are actually…
Movie Review: Logan Lucky
Steven Soderbergh’s return to feature-film directing may come less than 5 years after “retiring,” but I’m glad he’s back. This tale about a crew of West Virginia hillbillies that robs a Nascar track is never less than compulsively watchable, and contains enough low-key pleasures to make you excited to see what Soderbergh does next. What…
AMC’s Long-Suffering (For the Viewer) “TURN” Finally Ends, & Ranking the Seasons
Why did I watch all four seasons of AMC’s “TURN?” A stubborn mix of pride and because the show’s premise—following American spies during the Revolutionary War—is unique and intriguing enough to keep me hooked on the idea that it could become excellent…or better-than-average…or non-frustrating. And, to be fair, some episodes were very strong. It just suffered from…
Movie Review: The Big Sick
Title be damned, this romantic comedy (starring Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani as a man who breaks up with a girlfriend he loves only to discover his mistake when she lapses into a coma) is one of the best films of 2017. What Works: The rom-com is an endangered species (there are now more films mocking them…
Movie Reviews: The Zookeeper’s Wife, The Promise
A pair of earnest-duds based on WWI or II true stories, but how many times do we have to watch bad movies with noble intentions think a World War setting can save any narrative flaw or stale filmmaking? The Zookeeper’s Wife…Based on the true story of a Polish zoo that doubled as sanctuary for Jews…
Movie Round-Up: Trainspotting 2, CHiPs, Belko Experiment, Wilson
If you had told me I would enjoy the critically-reviled “CHiPs” remake more than the long-anticipated “Trainspotting” sequel, I might’ve punched you in the face. But that’s exactly what happened… Trainspotting 2…Even the movie’s clumsy official title “T2” feels derivative, and although you can’t blame Danny Boyle for wanting some of that Linklater-“Before Sunset/Midnight” indie-sequel magic, this…
Movie Review: Death Note
One of the rare Netflix Original movies that may be slightly underrated by critics. This film—about a teenager (Nat Wolff) who receives a mysterious “Death Notebook” that allows him to kill anyone whose name he writes in it with the aid of a nefarious demon (voiced with delight by Willem Dafoe)—isn’t perfect by any stretch, but it…
Why is King Carpetbagger & Uber-New Yorker Trump Really Defending Neo-Confederates?
The reactions to Charlottesville–and especially Trump’s bizarre comments afterwards–fell, predictably, along partisan lines. More than two-thirds of Republicans said Trump’s pitifully unconvincing “both sides” equivocation and quasi-defense of white supremacists was “well handled,” and even more than that said it wouldn’t affect their support of him in the long term. While Democrats once again came…
Monday Morning Movie Review: The Excellent “Wind River”
“Wind River” is the directorial debut of one of my favorite screenwriters, Taylor Sheridan of “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” fame, and even if it’s not quite as good as the 2016 best film of the year “Hell or High Water,” what is really? It’s at least as good as “Sicario” and features a strong Jeremy…
Movie Review: An Inconvenient Sequel
How discouraging it is that on the day I choose to review “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” Twitter is trending “The Other Inconvenient Truth” with anything they want to talk about (racism, Russia, Trump of course, microaggressions, sexism, etc.) and in that moment I almost felt how Al Gore must on a daily basis,…
Movie Review: Dunkirk
At long last, a film you might still care about. If you’ve already gotten through the first 21 of my “24 reviews in 24 hours” film day, you’ll likely be more interested in this… What Works: Christopher Nolan is a huge advocate for movie theater viewing, and especially IMAX viewing, and I am glad I watched…