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Jane Campion Triumphantly Returns With ‘The Power of the Dog’

6Jan

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

Jane Campion Triumphantly Returns With ‘The Power of the Dog’

It's been twelve long years since Jane Campion's last feature film, the sumptuously romantic period drama "Bright Star." She's certainly made up for lost time with her latest, a powerhouse adaptation of Thomas Savage's 1967 novel. In Montana during the mid-1920s, Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his brother George (Jesse Plemons) are running their family ranch. Phil has a mean streak and establishes his dominance by frequently mocking George's weight and generally being a rotten human being. When George takes a liking to a young widow named Rose (Kirsten Dunst, hopefully headed towards a much-deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination) and quickly marries her, it sets off something in Phil that only exacerbates his already unpleasant demeanor. He exhibits this in many ways, ...

31Jan

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Events, Film

12th Annual DOC NYC Festival Happening Now in Hybrid Format

Now in its 12th year, DOC NYC kicked off over the weekend and is taking place now in a hybrid format. This means that if you're in New York City, there are still screenings happening with hundreds of special guests for Q&As and interviews. The good news is that wherever you are in the United States, you can can actually buy tickets for individual screenings and grab yourself a pass that will allow you to watch some of the best documentaries of the year from the comfort and safety of home. According to their website, for the last nine years, the festival has screened the film that went on to win the Best Documentary award at the Oscars. 24 of the last 25 Oscar nominees were also on recent lineups. If you're a fan of documentary films from around the globe, this is the place to s...

Jessica Chastain Dazzles in Otherwise Average “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Review)

12Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

Jessica Chastain Dazzles in Otherwise Average “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Review)

For nearly two decades, Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband Jim were televangelists, preaching to the faithful on TV screens all around the world. Director Michael Showalter ("The Big Sick") and screenwriter Abe Sylvia have taken the documentary of the same name that was released in 2000 (streaming now on WOW Presents Plus) and used it as a springboard for this biopic on the controversial couple. The end result is overlong and a little tedious if you've seen the documentary before, but it's worth watching simply because of how marvelous that Jessica Chastain is portraying Tammy Faye. She is simply unrecognizable under all that makeup and the outrageously fake eyelashes, often clinging to a can of Diet Coke and becoming one with the character. Chandler Head portrays Tammy Faye as ...

“Passing” Elegantly Examines Friendship and Race in 1920’s New York (Review)

9Nov

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

“Passing” Elegantly Examines Friendship and Race in 1920’s New York (Review)

Shortly after premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the directorial debut of actor Rebecca Hall ("The Night House") was acquired for release by Netflix in a worldwide deal. Based on the groundbreaking 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, "Passing" tells the story of two childhood friends who run into each other as adults, intersecting with each other again at very different places in their lives. https://youtu.be/mPlr-E_xKlU Tessa Thompson stars as Irene, a woman living in Harlem with her husband Brian (André Holland) and their two children. With Brian working as a doctor, they live comfortably enough for Irene to spend her time charitably. While stopping for a drink on a blisteringly hot summer day, she runs into Clare (Ruth Negga) in a hotel bar. The ...

‘The Beta Test’ is a Razor Sharp Satire With No Strings Attached (Review)

6Jan

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

‘The Beta Test’ is a Razor Sharp Satire With No Strings Attached (Review)

In the opening scene of "The Beta Test," viewers witness the graphic murder of a young woman in a domestic violence incident. It sets a very dark tone for the film and foreshadows some elements of the storyline but shifts directions relatively quickly after the opening credits. We're introduced to Jordan (Jim Cummings, "Thunder Road," "The Wolf of Snow Hollow"), an anxious Hollywood agent battling a stressful job, a painful ulcer, and a fiancée named Caroline (Virginia Newcomb) who he is just weeks away from marrying. A routine visit to the mailbox kicks Jordan's storyline into full gear. He gets a letter in a purple envelope, addressed to him with golden calligraphy and featuring no return address. Inside is an invitation to come to a local hotel room for an anonymous and "no strin...

6Jan

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

‘Finch’: A Man, His Dog & His Robots

Tom Hanks is no stranger to being the only human character on screen in a film. All through his latest effort, "Finch," I couldn't help but think of him passing his days on the beach and having conversations with a volleyball in "Cast Away." He gets a little more to work with in this post-apocalyptic tale of a robotic engineer named Finch who just may be one of the last people alive on Earth. Or at least in the United States. We don't get a lot of details, but it appears as though the ozone layer of the planet has deteriorated to the point that being exposed to the sun can kill you. With temperatures at deadly levels and radiation in the air, he has survived in an underground bunker. It's just Finch, his loyal dog Goodyear and a small scavenging robot assistant that he takes on ...

“Censor” is One of the Year’s Best Horror Films (Review)

29Oct

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

“Censor” is One of the Year’s Best Horror Films (Review)

The increased availability and lowered prices to purchase VCRs fueled the home entertainment industry in the 1980s. People all over the world were able to easily watch movies from the comfort of home and boy, did they ever. It wasn't just the major Hollywood studios who benefited from the video store craze. Many independent film producers and distributors were able to exploit their catalogs and initially release them on formats like VHS, Beta, and laserdisc. Once the floodgates of videotape rentals opened, viewers couldn't get enough of horror films. The genre, often ignored or disrespected by the major studios, had great success and some releases, especially straight-to-video titles, pushed the boundaries of gore and violence. Some films were so controversial that they became k...