Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ Saves the Earth but Not the DC Extended Universe
“The DC Extended Universe is not doomed, but it needs its own clear identity and purpose. Rebranding ‘The Avengers’ is not the answer.”
Why I Wear the Mask: Tom Hardy’s Performances of Limitation
“Behind the mask, lurking within the timbre of the vocal choices, buried beneath the shaped physique, there is truth.”
Action Hero Vulnerability and Shocking Comedy in John Frankenheimer’s ‘Dead Bang’
“The vomit moment in ‘Dead Bang’ is unfailingly human.”
More Than Mythology: Overt Quotation in James Mangold’s ‘Logan’
“Heavy-handed “meta” moments make the allusions worthless, and superhero films will keep hitting a glass ceiling until they can start creating their own cinematic mythology.”
Review: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’
“As a portrait of differing wartime experiences, ‘Dunkirk’ is too plot-oriented to be successful.”
Sheer Heart Attack: Edgar Wright’s ‘Baby Driver’
“With ‘Baby Driver,’ Wright delivers a delightful, mid-summer cinematic treat.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Bill Arceneaux on Samuel Fuller’s ‘The Steel Helmet’
“Answers don’t come easy, but they do come if you’re looking for them.”
‘Colossal’ and the Monstrous Pettiness of the Male Ego
“Maybe she can finally make a life that’s actually hers.”
The Bottom Line: Q.V. Hough, Jeremy Carr, Bill Arceneaux and Peter Bell on ‘V for Vendetta’
Vague Visages Chat Transcript
Cannes Film Festival Review: Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Wind River’
“‘Wind River’ is a well crafted, but straightforward, thriller with an interesting setting and social context.”
The Bottom Line: Q.V. Hough, Jeremy Carr and Bill Arceneaux on ‘Cobra’
Vague Visages Chat Transcript
DIFF 2017 Review: James Gray’s ‘The Lost City of Z’
‘It cannot be understated: ‘The Lost City of Z’ is a revelation.’
‘RoboCop’ in the Age of Trump
“It only took three decades for ‘RoboCop’ to go from a sci-fi thought experiment to prescient documentary. What do the next few hold?”
Review: Sang-ho Yeon’s ‘Train to Busan’
“‘Train to Busan’ becomes obsessed with how its characters will face the various obstacles thrown at them, but the film does not operate with a human desire for justice.
Two Drink Minimum: ‘Galaxy Quest’, ‘Star Trek’ and the Real World
“‘Galaxy Quest’ remains great as a testament to sci-fi filmmaking, television and reverence to ‘Star Trek’ as a fandom phenomenon which can only be understood and engaged with via postmodern means.”
SANFIC 12 Review: Paul Schrader’s ‘Dog Eat Dog’
“I think that Schrader is just reaching out, trying to stretch his directorial arms, trying to show everything that he’s got.”
We Failed This Film: Joe Carnahan’s ‘The A-Team’ (2010)
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Why Don’t You Play in Hell?’ (Sion Sono, 2013)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Johnnie To’s ‘Three’
“To missteps when ‘Three’ hews too close to action clichés.”
A Cinema of Relics: ‘The Phantom’ at 20
“Call it the Silver Age of Comic Book Movies.”