Category: New Releases
Being The Ricardos: Sorkin’s big swing
by Matt Ward
Always the most cunning and captivating wordsmith, Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin grows increasingly sure-handed behind the director’s chair with each new project he takes on. Much like his writing, Sorkin becomes more daring as his confidence grows in his third feature film released last week in theaters and on Amazon Prime reflects both his drive and ambition to make prestige cinematic drama. Being the … Read More Being The Ricardos: Sorkin’s big swing
Spider-Man No Way Home: Superhero movies are back
by Matt Ward
Marvel Studios has had a problem for the better part of two years now. Ever since the release of Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the Disney-owned franchise has been wallowing in a dilemma partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and partially due to their own making. With most of their Avengers core retiring from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, producer Kevin Feige has had to start … Read More Spider-Man No Way Home: Superhero movies are back
West Side Story: Reimagining a classic
by Matt Ward
There really isn’t such a thing as a bad Steven Spielberg movie. Regardless of the film, one of America’s quintessential directors has crafted a career so illustrious and celebrated that it’s impossible to consider anything he makes bad. So when it was announced that Spielberg would attempt to reinvigorate the 1957 Broadway musical and 1961 Academy Award Best Picture winner West Side Story, there’s … Read More West Side Story: Reimagining a classic
The Power of the Dog: Melancholy in the old west
by Matt Ward
There’s no gunfights in Netflix’s largest awards contending release, a western starring Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch as a Montana rancher in the 1920s. Director Jane Campion’s first film in more than a decade, The Power of the Dog is a subtle, slow-burn character driven drama examining life in the rural hills, what it means to be a man and the things we all too … Read More The Power of the Dog: Melancholy in the old west
House of Gucci: Killer fashion
by Matt Ward
Octogenarian filmmaker Ridley Scott is among the hardest working directors in Hollywood. With over 50 movies to his credit – including a pair of new releases this year and another two currently in production – Scott doesn’t stop for much of anything, let alone the coronavirus pandemic. After completing his medieval epic The Last Duel during the latter part of 2020, Scott immediately sought … Read More House of Gucci: Killer fashion
Belfast: Simple story, complex conflict
by Matt Ward
When we are young, the fuller picture of the world around us isn’t clear. Things that affect us directly – things that happen on the street where we live, the other children in class, our families – become seared in our memories. Understanding things that happen in the periphery simply have less significance because the impact is lesser. Such is the case with Belfast, … Read More Belfast: Simple story, complex conflict
Spencer: The haunting of a princess
by Matt Ward
Pablo Larraín doesn’t approach his biographical subject manner in any traditional sense. His 2016 film Jackie, which was nominated for three Oscars, followed Natalie Portman as the recently widowed wife of United States President John F. Kennedy in the immediate days after his assassination and took a more artistic stance on relatively recent historical record. The second in what is expected to be a … Read More Spencer: The haunting of a princess
Eternals: Reach for the moon, land amongst stars
by Matt Ward
There were five movies of build up before Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Incredible Hulk teamed up to save New York City from an invading horde of aliens in 2012’s The Avengers. But with the ever expanding universe of spinoff streaming miniseries, fill-in-the-blanks back stories and new character creation, Marvel Studios simply doesn’t have time to develop the necessary … Read More Eternals: Reach for the moon, land amongst stars
The French Dispatch: Short stories served dry
by Matt Ward
Wes Anderson movies are by in large an acquired taste. Exceptionally dry and increasingly niche in form, his filmography represents an auteur’s sensibilities with relative apathy for how easy it would be for casual audiences to become immersed into and enjoy the worlds Anderson painstakingly creates. Such is the case with The French Dispatch, an amalgamation of various French cinema styles combined with twee … Read More The French Dispatch: Short stories served dry
Dune: Building a spice world
by Matt Ward
World building in cinema can be a richly rewarding experience that will encircle and fully immerse the audience, pulling them out of their everyday lives and transporting them beyond their mind’s eye. Crafting something intricate that will stand up to scrutiny and encourage repeat viewings while not overwhelming casual audiences is an especially tricky feat to accomplish. It’s one that director Denis Villeneuve tackles … Read More Dune: Building a spice world
The Last Duel: A matter of perspective
by Matt Ward
Two men – former close friends – battle to the death for honor and the truth in God’s eyes. It’s a singular moment in time that frames director Ridley Scott’s latest film, an epic two-and-a-half hour medieval odyssey featuring the first script penned by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon since the duo won the Oscar for original screenplay for 1997’s Good Will Hunting. But … Read More The Last Duel: A matter of perspective
No Time To Die: The final adventure
by Matt Ward
What defines James Bond, the longest running character in cinema history? Is it the suits that make the man or the boundless charisma that gets him to have his way with women? Does it have to do with the gadgetry he receives from MI-6’s Q-Branch, the exotic locations he travels to or the megalomaniac villains he faces off against? Depending on where audiences fall … Read More No Time To Die: The final adventure
Cinematic Considerations 