“‘Yesterday’ didn’t need to be a dry, emotionless sci-fi story, but in taking such a basic approach to the concept, it really lessens the impact and results in a watered-down, forgettable experience.”
“‘Late Night’ struggles to define almost all the characters in the ensemble beyond providing the majority with a single, instantly recognizable trait.”
“While moments of grace and levity abound, Peralta remains clear-eyed about the difficulty of maintaining relationships – to people, to places, to the past – and rarely backs off from her stance.”
“The rom-com isn’t dead. It was simply evolving into something more interesting, more modern and more accepting.”
“Scheinert uses each twist to burrow further into the impulses and regrets of two strong silent types.”
“Brice and company get too tied up in the character comedy for ‘Corporate Animals’ to work as a satire (or to really say anything at all), and the televisual filmmaking isn’t helped by a plotline that could have been a single episode of ‘The Office.'”
“You don’t have to be a queer teenage activist to relate to Amy, but imagine what ‘Booksmart’ might mean to those who have not seen themselves regularly represented on the mainstream screen.”
“‘Fonotune: An Electric Fairytale’ can’t escape feeling like a zany music video concept, lacking the energy or plot to sustain a feature. For all the beauty and allure that FINT’s wacky film offers, the emptiness strikes hardest, possibly not in the way the director intended.”
“Food, particularly junk food, plays a large role in ‘Chungking Express’ by signifying the type of sweet but ultimately fleeting connections (and self-doubt) that occur so frequently for the characters in the bustling Chungking Mansions.”
“While Springsteen takes the American dream and helps everyone navigate through its dismantling, Chadha packs it all up with ‘Blinded by the Light” and makes it speak to an entirely different country and a whole new generation.”
