Category: Netflix
The Half of It: Dig deeper into Netflix’s vault
by Matt Ward
Two out of every three Netflix Original films aren’t worth the price of admission. They’re the bargain bin, direct-to-DVD level fodder usually starring David Spade or that one girl who used to be on that one television show back in the day. You don’t remember her name, but it doesn’t really matter. With the coronavirus pandemic keeping movie theaters closed, it’s prime ground for … Read More The Half of It: Dig deeper into Netflix’s vault
Extraction: Violence in the melodrama
by Matt Ward
Sam Hargrave’s directorial debut couldn’t have gone much better. The former stunt coordinator and second unit director landed Thor himself, Australian actor Chris Hemsworth to play the film’s lead with a script written by “Avengers: Endgame” co-director Joe Russo. Within its first month, over 90 million people have seen Hargrave’s “Extraction” and a sequel to the Netflix original action thriller has already been greenlit … Read More Extraction: Violence in the melodrama
Uncorked: Fathers and sons
by Matt Ward
Over the last several years, major film directors have made their way to the small screen, making limited series in search of creative freedom and risk-taking with the help of content hungry streaming services. Slowly but surely, this trend is starting to pay dividends for movie lovers as young, talented television writers and creators are making their way to feature films. Prentice Penny, show … Read More Uncorked: Fathers and sons
Spenser Confidential: Last man standing
by Matt Ward
It started with unflappable British spy James Bond heading for the hills as “No Time To Die” moved from a mid-April release to late November. Within the last week, film studios have been shelving their biggest upcoming releases with Disney’s “Mulan” postponed indefinitely and Universal’s ninth “Fast and the Furious” film pushed to 2021 amid growing concerns for public safety due to the coronavirus … Read More Spenser Confidential: Last man standing
The Last Thing He Wanted: Short term loss, long term value
by Matt Ward
With a seemingly endless budget, Netflix continues to pour money into project after project with avid disregard for the bottom line. This strategy may seem counter-intuitive to budget conscious business owners, but for film lovers, the streaming service writing blank checks to everyone from Martin Scorsese to Noah Baumbach to Michael Bay is an overall win. Some productions may miss the mark financially, but … Read More The Last Thing He Wanted: Short term loss, long term value
Marriage Story: Finding the beginning in the end
by Matt Ward
We’ve been told there’s two sides to every story. Often it feels as if it’s as simple as the truth and then anything other than the truth. But what happens when both sides of the story are true but conflict, or worse yet, outright contradict one another? Writer/director Noah Baumbach explores this complex duality through the structure of a fractured relationship in his latest … Read More Marriage Story: Finding the beginning in the end
The Irishman: Legacy of a cinematic Don
by Matt Ward
At the end of the day, what’s it all about? It’s a question that continuously lingers under the surface of celebrated auteur Martin Scorsese’s latest feature, a melancholy retrospective that acts almost like a career summation filled with riddles of bullets and dynamically vulgar dialogue. For the premier filmmaker in the gangster genre, Scorsese’s “The Irishman” definitively closes the book on how crime dramas … Read More The Irishman: Legacy of a cinematic Don
Dolemite Is My Name: Return of a comedy legend
by Matt Ward
From the moment he begins a verbal diatribe that drowns out Marvin Gaye, it’s apparent that Eddie Murphy has a special passion for his latest role. It’s evident in the way he carries himself, in the timbre of his voice and the cadence with which he recite lyrical tongue-twisters with effortless repetition. Murphy melts into his homage to one of his mentors and heroes, … Read More Dolemite Is My Name: Return of a comedy legend
The Laundromat: The muddled world of international finance
by Matt Ward
Taking risks in filmmaking can be a bold way to put a unique spin on stories we already know well. Biopics and other movies about historical events and figures are often chronological and stale, though recent efforts to infuse life into the genre have proven to be a welcome change. Since writer/director Todd McKay’s darkly comic take on the financial crisis of 2008 won … Read More The Laundromat: The muddled world of international finance
American Factory: The price of globalization
by Matt Ward
There have been a number of exceptional documentaries released in 2019 covering a range of political, historical and pop culture topics. Perhaps none sits quite on the threshold of where the United States stands currently in an everchanging global economy than the latest Netflix release, “American Factory.” A top non-fiction film and award winner to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this … Read More American Factory: The price of globalization
Murder Mystery: An unnecessary whodunit?
by Matt Ward
Perhaps the biggest saving grace about “Murder Mystery,” the latest movie partnership between Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions and Netflix, is that no one will have to pay money to sit in a movie theater to endure 100-plus minutes of subpar cinema. It isn’t just that the production design is simplified to a level that almost none of the crime comedy’s supposedly luxurious foreign … Read More Murder Mystery: An unnecessary whodunit?
Knock Down The House: Celebrating the outsiders
by Matt Ward
Documentaries change in the minds of viewers when they know the outcome before it happens on screen. Usually it’s the ends justifying the means, the result giving audiences a reason to watch a journey. Director Rachel Lears didn’t know that the 18 months spent chronicling the lives of four women running as outsider candidates in Democratic primary elections would turn into a Sundance and … Read More Knock Down The House: Celebrating the outsiders
Cinematic Considerations 