Month: March 2019
Dumbo: Just an ordinary elephant
by Matt Ward
A film about a flying elephant should not work, but it did once. Remaking an iconic Disney animated film about a flying elephant definitely shouldn’t work and certainly doesn’t here as director Tim Burton stumbles about the circus world for two hours in a clumsy, largely lackluster iteration of the 1941 film “Dumbo.” To be clear, this retelling of a Disney classic compartmentalizes the … Read More Dumbo: Just an ordinary elephant
Us: The terror within
by Matt Ward
Are we our own worst enemy? Jordan Peele’s latest film, “Us,” contemplates deeply personal, introspective ideas through the lens of horror. The film’s main conceit, an ever precarious internal balance between good and evil, is pushed to the surface quite literally as a family on vacation are confronted by ominous doppelgängers of themselves, the violent opposite of their seemingly normal existence. Peele’s second feature … Read More Us: The terror within
Triple Frontier: The price of being a soldier
by Matt Ward
Filmmaker J.C. Chandor is at his best making intimate, dialogue-heavy films about man’s unrelenting quest for the almighty dollar at any price. His 2011 debut “Margin Call” was an intense, diabolical examination of the New York financial services industry that earned him an Oscar nomination for the film’s screenplay. Three years later, Chandor returned with “A Most Violent Year,” a subtle and nuanced crime … Read More Triple Frontier: The price of being a soldier
Captain Marvel: Pregame to an Endgame
by Matt Ward
The fate of the universe lies in the balance. It’s the central conceit of any galactic space opera or bombastic superhero adventure. But rarely does it feel more true than with “Captain Marvel,” the new feature from the indie writing/directing duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck that just also happens to be the 21st entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The weight … Read More Captain Marvel: Pregame to an Endgame
Thunder Road: Fortune favors the bold
by Matt Ward
A static camera slowly presses in. It never moves – only zooms deliberately – for what feels like an eternity but is only six or seven minutes as the protagonist mourns the loss of his mother during a chaotic, frantic eulogy at her funeral. Over the course of a brisk hour-and-a-half, writer/director/star Jim Cummings delivers a film equally as manic as the character he … Read More Thunder Road: Fortune favors the bold
Cinematic Considerations 