Movie Reviews and Previews The Laundromat of smugness So far, The Laundromat is my biggest TIFF disappointment. I was looking forward to this film for a few reasons, but only one of them proved out—Meryl Streep’s bucket hat is very jaunty, indeed. Every other element of the film is either miscalculated or confusing. The Laundromat is By Sarah • Sep 12, 2019 02:53 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Why does Kristen Stewart have to share Seberg? The Jean Seberg biopic, Seberg, avoids a common biopic mistake: it doesn’t try to cover whole decades, instead focusing on a roughly four-year period when Seberg, an actress discovered by Otto Preminger but most famous for starring in films of the French new wave, got involved with civil rights By Sarah • Sep 12, 2019 12:17 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Men Doing Men Things in Ford v Ferrari Ford v Ferrari, an old-school get-er-done drama in which Men do important Men Things and somehow Change The World with their Men Things, is your dad’s favorite film of the year. It’s a period drama soft-lobbed right down the middle, well-crafted and loaded with good actors. Can’t By Sarah • Sep 11, 2019 04:41 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Knives Out: a great ensemble film and a great murder mystery There are few entertainments as satisfying as a good murder mystery, which is why Knives Out is one of the best films I’ve seen this year—it’s a GREAT murder mystery. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out is a twisty-turny mystery that nods to everything from By Sarah • Sep 11, 2019 03:20 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit After playing in the Marvel sandbox, Taika Waititi returns to his natural state, making films with a precise blend of comedy, drama, and pathos. His latest is Jojo Rabbit, in which he becomes the latest filmmaker to satirize Hitler since Charlie Chaplin first did it in 1940s in The Great By Sarah • Sep 10, 2019 05:01 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood…to cry More like A Beautiful Day to CRY. Based on Tom Junod’s 1998 profile of Fred Rogers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is not really a traditional biopic. We don’t walk through the years of Fred Rogers’ life, we meet him at a very specific moment, and experience By Sarah • Sep 10, 2019 01:36 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Just Mercy should be shared Even as at-home streaming platforms offer a film viewing experience that is more convenient, more affordable, and more comfortable than cinemas, there are those films that remind us of the power of watching something in a darkened room full of strangers, sharing a singular experience. Just Mercy is one of By Sarah • Sep 10, 2019 11:41 am
Movie Reviews and Previews The Report: Adam Driver needs a scene partner Longtime Steven Soderbergh collaborator Scott Z. Burns writes and directs The Report, an extremely thorough and incredibly dry movie about the controversial Senate report on the US’s use of torture in the post-9/11 era. This film relies heavily on Adam Driver, particularly his ability to emote repressed passion By Sarah • Sep 09, 2019 04:38 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews The Personal History of David Copperfield or Dev Patel can play any role Armando Iannucci’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield is a breezy, fun, surprisingly straightforward take on the classic. Iannucci co-wrote the script with his frequent collaborator Simon Blackwell, but if you’re expecting a Veep or Death of Stalin-style satire—as I was—don’t hold your breath. Iannucci By Sarah • Sep 09, 2019 12:46 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Between Two Ferns is a movie now Today in Sure, Why Not? news, we have learned that, thanks to Netflix’s insatiable need for original content, there is now a Between Two Ferns movie. That’s right, Zach Galifianakis’s awkward interview show has been turned into a film. How will that work? Honestly, who cares? It By Sarah • Sep 04, 2019 03:21 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews It’s not a good time to be a Nazi Ahead of its TIFF premiere, a new trailer for Jojo Rabbit has been released, which doubles down on the satirical tone of the teaser. There are lots of “bumbling idiots” hijinks, and Taika Waititi is in bright blue contacts as Imaginary Friend Hitler which is a GREAT touch, a subtle By Sarah • Sep 03, 2019 02:52 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Do you know about Alice Guy-Blaché? This is the question posed to dozens of filmmakers at the beginning of the documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché. The vast majority of them say no, but a few do know her name, including Ava DuVernay. Pamela B. Green’s documentary then unspools like a mystery By Sarah • Aug 30, 2019 01:40 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Meryl’s bucket hat Meryl Streep is receiving the TIFF Tribute Actor Award at this year’s film festival, to go along with the North American premiere of her new film, The Laundromat, directed by Steven Soderbergh. I’m not going to lie, when I first heard Soderbergh made a movie starring Meryl Streep By Sarah • Aug 29, 2019 11:05 am
Amazingness Just Keep Livin’ 101 Today in Holy Sh-t, Sign Me Up news, the University of Texas at Austin announced that Matthew McConaughey has been appointed as a professor and will teach a class this fall in the Department of Radio-Television-Film. He is teaching a “script to screen” film class based on curriculum he developed By Sarah • Aug 29, 2019 10:13 am
Movie Reviews and Previews “Introduce me as Joker” The Venice Film Festival kicks off next week, and with it comes the world premiere of Joker, followed by a North American premiere at TIFF. Ahead of both of those things, we have a new trailer to absorb. The first trailer was promising, though I still have plenty of reservations By Sarah • Aug 28, 2019 02:30 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Taika Waititi stays busy Taika Waititi is a busy man. Jojo Rabbit is about to hit the fall festival circuit, he’s got acting and directing duties for The Mandalorian bearing fruit this fall, he’s returning to Marvel for more Thor, but before that, he’ll direct a movie about the American Samoan By Sarah • Aug 28, 2019 01:15 pm
