Jared Leto’s over-the-top performance as heir to a fashion fortune in House of Gucci garnered mixed reactions from critics, but one thing that is undeniable is that his look is memorable. In the film, he has to look like the bombastic Paolo Gucci did—balding, with long side chops on his face, a pudgy nose,... »
Guillermo del Toro revisits the 1946 novel Nightmare Alley, about a grifter conman, which first got adapted, film noir style, in 1947. Film noir is del Toro’s bailiwick and his own Nightmare Alley is as stylized, visually polished, and crafty as you would expect from a director with such a beautifully unique aesthetic. At the same time, del Toro’s... »
What a wonder, as a critic, to be reviewing a film based on one of the most successful musicals of all time, considering its definitive movie adaptation was received to the tune of 10 Academy Awards way back in 1961. Enter Steven Spielberg and his take on the famous 1950s musical by Leonard Bernstein... »
One of the 2016’s most pleasant and unexpected surprised was Illumination Studios’ Sing, the beautifully animated cartoon about a gaggle of wannabe singer animals overcoming their various impediments to become amateur stage singers. The success of the first led to the nearly assured (and highly-desired) existence of the next, but success is a fleeting... »
I remember my “Intro to Literary Writing” course at Yale like it was yesterday. The coursebook had one tip and two tricks that all inexperienced authors should follow to create compelling stories during the time in which it took them to find their voice. The tip: write about what you know. The tricks: use... »
What does it mean to be “Italian”? Like for so many subjective questions, the truth may be in the eye of the beholder. Italians of different regions would likely answer differently as would, no doubt, non-Italians. All thoughtful perspectives could be compelling and even intriguing. But in Ridley Scott’s upcoming film, House of Gucci,... »
Every once in a while, directors come along whose work’s focus is distinctively human. The most obvious, recent example of this is Woody Allen, whose body of film’s attention is almost entirely on human relationships, such as family, friendship, and romance. Many of these filmmakers though, including without question Allen himself, as well as... »
It seems somehow befitting that for his directorial debut, composing legend Lin-Manuel Miranda would select a musical adapted from a musical about making a musical. But while the plot of his film, Tick, Tick….Boom! can make your head spin—or explode, as the case may be—if you pay too much attention, fear not, because Lin... »
The busy sound I heard right before the credits roll for Disney’s upcoming magical film Encanto was not only the voice of Colombian singing legend Carlos Vives, intoning the movie’s surefire Oscar contender, “Colombia, Mi Encanto.” The clackity-clack was actually the busy feet of scurrying film critics rushing out to figure out what “Encanto”... »
Netflix’s upcoming film, Red Notice, is most part tedious and unintelligible. It features three action heroes, played by the wonderfully attractive threesome comprised of Gal Gadot, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Ryan Reynolds, caught in an endless, frustrating loop of betrayals, double-crosses, and improbable escapes. Yet, by the time the film’s credits roll, and Netflix’s “next up” suggestion... »
