Category: New Releases
Thank You For Your Service: The battle’s just begun
by Matt Ward
When war ends, new battles begin for soldiers returning home from combat. Quite often the things they’ve seen, the experiences they’ve had fundamentally change who they are as a person and their ability to relate to those loved ones who never served. These struggles strike at the core of writer/director Jason Hall’s “Thank You For Your Service,” a military drama based on real events … Read More Thank You For Your Service: The battle’s just begun
Victoria and Abdul: Long live the queen
by Matt Ward
Give Dame Judi Dench a role in your movie and good things are going to happen. Make her royalty and your film is bound to shine no matter how average and uneven the script might be. Such is the case with “Victoria and Abdul,” the latest film from British director Stephen Frears. Based on the book of the same name from Shrabani Basu, “Victoria … Read More Victoria and Abdul: Long live the queen
Stronger: What defines a man
by Matt Ward
Jeff Bauman is more than a photograph, more than just a symbol of strength during a harrowing moment in American history. In a now iconic picture, Bauman is shown being carried to safety by a stranger in a cowboy hat following a terrorist attack at the 2013 Boston Marathon. His journey before and after a homemade bomb took his legs and ripped his life … Read More Stronger: What defines a man
Blade Runner 2049: Beautiful complexity
by Matt Ward
Prestige cinema comes at a price. For some, the nearly two-hour and 45-minute science fiction epic “Blade Runner 2049” is a masterpiece of dynamic, visually stunning moviemaking from French Canadian auteur Denis Villeneuve. And yet other moviegoers will find the Ryan Gosling sequel to the 1982 Harrison Ford cult classic excessive, boring or outright stupid. What “Blade Runner 2049” does best is help define … Read More Blade Runner 2049: Beautiful complexity
Battle Of The Sexes: Evening the playing field
by Matt Ward
Billie Jean King’s infamous tennis match with aging trash talker Bobby Riggs takes a back seat to private, personal moments in the new biopic “Battle of the Sexes.” While the film makes its mark with the 1973 King/Riggs showdown at the Houston Astrodome, viewers rarely see the two on screen together as directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris meander through King’s love life and … Read More Battle Of The Sexes: Evening the playing field
mother!: Viewers be warned!
by Matt Ward
You’re not going to like the new Jennifer Lawrence movie. It’s a slow, plodding arthouse melodrama filled with allegory and widely open to interpretation. If you can make it through the entire two-hour running time, you’ll be stunned how a film like this gets made. But that’s just the way director Darren Aronofsky likes it. He relishes how audiences have left “mother!” in disgust, … Read More mother!: Viewers be warned!
American Assassin: A most lethal weapon
by Matt Ward
There’s a room with a half-dozen armed terrorists that need to be taken down. It’s possible to slowly take them out one by one using stealth and smarts, or by just running in the room and shooting them all in the head. “American Assassin” is the kind of movie that breaks down the door and shoots all the terrorists in the head. With a … Read More American Assassin: A most lethal weapon
Home Again: Playing it comfortably safe
by Matt Ward
Reese Witherspoon’s newest movie, the romantic comedy “Home Again,” is a soft pillow and warm blanket to wrap up in. It doesn’t matter how well the pillow is made or if the blanket is itchy. Comfort is what counts. Such is the case with “Home Again,” an overly familiar, safe romantic comedy in the vein of a Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan vehicle, yet … Read More Home Again: Playing it comfortably safe
The Hitman’s Bodyguard: Witless protection
by Matt Ward
Hollywood’s going to get the wrong idea. It doesn’t matter that action-comedy “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” has zero major competition at the box office or was released in a month where studio films go to die. All that truly matters, unfortunately, is that the Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson movie just clinched its third consecutive week at number one in national ticket sales. That … Read More The Hitman’s Bodyguard: Witless protection
Wind River: Life and death in the cold
by Matt Ward
Taylor Sheridan can write the tail off a script. The creative mind behind probing, emotional thrillers like “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” takes to the director’s chair for the first time with “Wind River,” his third feature film script and perhaps the most stoic, reserved entry in his filmography. Set in the harsh cold of the Wind River Indian Reservation in rural Wyoming, … Read More Wind River: Life and death in the cold
The Glass Castle: Family drama tackles questions of society, freedom, individuality
by Matt Ward
It’s all a matter of perspective. The concept of one man’s trash is another man’s treasure comes to the forefront in “The Glass Castle,” Destin Daniel Cretton’s family drama based on Jeanette Walls’ best-selling memoir of the same name. It’s a tale of a family at odds against itself, father against mother, children against parents, fighting separately but together in a struggle for survival … Read More The Glass Castle: Family drama tackles questions of society, freedom, individuality
Detroit: Bigelow confronts racial turmoil in tale of ’67 riots
by Matt Ward
Kathryn Bigelow is used to telling stories about the fragile nature of war. Her last two films – 2009’s Oscar-winning “The Hurt Locker” and 2012’s “Zero Dark Thirty” – examine the immense pressure and brutality felt by those living in conflict zones, powder-kegs ripe to explode in violence at any moment. With her first film in five years, “Detroit,” the Academy Award winning director … Read More Detroit: Bigelow confronts racial turmoil in tale of ’67 riots
Cinematic Considerations 