Category: Oscar Contenders
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: Laughter in dark circumstances
by Matt Ward
There is no such place as Ebbing, Missouri, regardless of how ripped straight out of current-day America it might be. Yet in Martin McDonagh’s latest film, the Midwest rarely feels as vibrant on film. Potential audiences will want to approach this movie with caution as “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is one of the year’s most provocative, colorful films. It’s a divisive endeavor where … Read More Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: Laughter in dark circumstances
Lady Bird: Drama in ‘reel’ life
by Matt Ward
It’s easy to pen “Lady Bird” into a corner, especially given the fact that the indie romantic comedy/drama currently stands as the best reviewed film in the history of Rotten Tomatoes. But “Lady Bird” is more than just an universally beloved film. It represents something more dynamic and changing within modern filmmaking, a new pinnacle for female-led and female driven cinema that transcends genre … Read More Lady Bird: Drama in ‘reel’ life
Mudbound: Lives of quiet desperation
by Matt Ward
Unless you were looking for it, odds are good that you might never stumble across a film like “Mudbound,” a small, intimate drama that snuck its way onto Netflix last week. The tale of two families – the McAllens, a moderately affluent white family transplanted to farming country, and the Jacksons, poor African-American sharecroppers seeking out land to call their own – is in … Read More Mudbound: Lives of quiet desperation
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!
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
Dunkirk: The art of war
by Matt Ward
Consider the Oscar race officially on. Christopher Nolan, famed British auteur of award-winning movies like “Inception” and “The Dark Knight,” cements his directorial seal on the historical drama genre with “Dunkirk,” a sweeping World War II film unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Despite the better part of five months of movies still to come, Nolan’s tenth feature will unquestionably end the year among … Read More Dunkirk: The art of war
Logan: Visceral, gripping tale brings new life to superhero genre
by Matt Ward
Hugh Jackman has been synonymous with the comic book hero Wolverine since his debut in Bryan Singer’s “X-Men” arrived on screen in 2000. Seventeen years later, Jackman takes his final bow as the claw-wielding, self-healing mutant in James Mangold’s “Logan,” a brutally daring epic that wows audiences from start to finish with its dark tone and ruthless efficiency. The haunting, heartfelt character-driven drama is … Read More Logan: Visceral, gripping tale brings new life to superhero genre
Cinematic Considerations 