Category: New Releases
Promising Young Woman: The sweetest revenge
by Matt Ward
Once a year, a film comes along that cuts so deeply against the grain that its ingenuity and craftsmanship push movies forward for years to come. Amidst the backdrop of pandemic-led movie shortages, the stark contrast between the relatively mundane films of 2020 and writer/director Emerald Fennell’s debut feature, an instant hit when it debuted at last year’s Sundance Film Festival on its way … Read More Promising Young Woman: The sweetest revenge
One Night In Miami: Four men, one room, millions changed
by Matt Ward
This review is based on an advance screening of “One Night in Miami” through this critic’s membership as a voter for the annual Film Independent Spirit Awards. Four men gather in a hotel room to celebrate the accomplishments of one of their own. Their party turns into a deep, philosophical conversation that crystallizes a moment in time in American history and challenges each to … Read More One Night In Miami: Four men, one room, millions changed
Soul: Once more, with feeling
by Matt Ward
Everyone assumes animated films made by Disney – or their Pixar Studios brand – are intended for younger audiences. The colors are bright, the plotlines are largely wonderous in scale, the content is cheerful and easy to follow from start to finish. Soul, the third Pixar feature from Oscar-winning director Pete Docter, isn’t for kids by any stretch of the imagination although it’s not … Read More Soul: Once more, with feeling
Wonder Woman 1984: Blast from the past
by Matt Ward
Filmmakers transcend genre by making sure their voice remains at the forefront, regardless of whatever limitations might be artificially imposed. This is especially true in the superhero genre, which can often feel stagnant and cookie-cutter as directors come to heel at the whims of a studio bent on franchise making and spectacle. Wonder Woman 1984, director Patty Jenkins’ follow-up to her critically and commercially … Read More Wonder Woman 1984: Blast from the past
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: And all that jazz
by Matt Ward
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the latest awards contending prestige drama from Netflix, will likely forever be known for the final performance of the late actor Chadwick Boseman, whose career was cut short by cancer in August. But what hopefully won’t be left out is that the film based on an acclaimed August Wilson play is also the finest work of Boseman’s career and a … Read More Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: And all that jazz
Wander Darkly: Crashing waves of emotion
by Matt Ward
How we handle pain, grief and tragedy – visceral, raw emotions – has always been a vibrant playground for filmmakers seeking weighty material to create artistic cinema. Relative newcomer Tara Miele found inspiration from her own car accident to blend reality and fantasy in Wander Darkly, a melancholic film that finds new parents Adrienne and Matteo at a crossroads following a family tragedy that … Read More Wander Darkly: Crashing waves of emotion
Mank: Citizen Mankiewicz
by Matt Ward
Though it’s expressed as a work of fiction, film scholars commonly understand the 1941 cinema classic Citizen Kane to be an unofficial biopic of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and the launching of Orson Welles’ film career. But the film also served as the magnum opus of social critic and Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, a man who battled with Welles for writing credit … Read More Mank: Citizen Mankiewicz
Hillbilly Elegy: In search of Oscar gold
by Matt Ward
Hillbilly Elegy has everything awards season voters seem to want in a best picture contender. It’s a film with A-list actors giving showy performances in an adaptation of a true story from an Academy Award winning director set in the recent past that gives insight into the current political climate. There’s plenty of golden reasons why Netflix paid $45 million in January for the … Read More Hillbilly Elegy: In search of Oscar gold
Mulan: Finally worth a watch
by Matt Ward
Every film has a price tag to be seen. Some movies you’d pay full price to see on opening weekend. Others are rentals for home viewing that cost a couple dollars or streaming movies that feel free because you don’t have to pay extra for seeing them. And then there’s also those movies that people would have to pay you to watch. Over the … Read More Mulan: Finally worth a watch
The Nest: Horrors of a failing marriage
by Matt Ward
Horror films do not have to be scary to be effective. There doesn’t need to be scenes of bombastic violence or frightening jump scares to heighten the tension. Sometimes the most terrifying things in cinema come from slowly built, meticulously crafted inevitability. In that sense, writer/director Sean Durkin’s latest film is incredibly haunting, simply by focusing on a looming sense of doom in a … Read More The Nest: Horrors of a failing marriage
Holidate: A partner for all seasons
by Matt Ward
Fresh off of Halloween and on the way to more family holidays, Netflix is bound to cash in on the dearth of end of the year films with a number of seasonally themed features. Their newest hit, which has topped the streaming service’s most-watched charts in the United States since its debut two weeks ago, is an objectively bad movie that knows its limitations … Read More Holidate: A partner for all seasons
The Way I See It: Capturing humanity in a single frame
by Matt Ward
Pete Souza has had an inside look at Washington politics for decades. He’s been in the room for countless national crises, meetings with foreign leaders and hundreds of White House press events without anyone ever really knowing his name. As the official photographer for both the Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama administrations, Souza has seen intimate moments on both sides of the aisle and … Read More The Way I See It: Capturing humanity in a single frame
Cinematic Considerations 