Movie Reviews and Previews THE Suicide Squad The cast for James Gunn’s THE Suicide Squad mulligan has been taking shape for the last several months, including additions of Taika Waititi and Idris Elba (now playing an unknown role, as apparently Will Smith wants to hang onto Deadshot in case Gunn successfully reboots this franchise). Friday afternoon, By Sarah • Sep 16, 2019 12:21 pm
Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender joins Taika’s team Coming off the deeply unsuccessful and unpleasant finale of his X-Men run, Michael Fassbender is joining Taika Waititi’s next movie, Next Goal Wins. Based on a documentary of the same name, the movie is about a Dutch coach, Thomas Rongen (presumably to be played by Fassbender), who tries By Sarah • Sep 16, 2019 10:33 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Shia LaBeouf’s Honey Boy: the child actor who became a movie star Shia LaBeouf wrote Honey Boy based on his own childhood as a young star, and plays his own father, here renamed “James”. The film is directed by Alma Har’el, making her feature film debut. Two things about Honey Boy are true: Shia LaBeouf is probably being too hard on By Sarah • Sep 13, 2019 05:12 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews TIFF Review: Dolemite Is My Name Eddie Murphy returns to acting after a three year hiatus with Dolemite Is My Name, a biopic of Dolemite creator Rudy Ray Moore. Like every other biopic I’ve seen at TIFF this year, Dolemite is standard, run-of-the-mill biographical stuff, taking no real risks and doing nothing By Sarah • Sep 13, 2019 03:36 pm
TV Updates SNL hired Milkshake Duck As SNL heads into season 45, there are some casting changes. We know Leslie Jones is leaving, and yesterday three new cast members were announced: Chloe Fineman, Shane Gillis, and Bowen Yang, who has been on SNL’s writing staff and was recently featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s comedy By Sarah • Sep 13, 2019 01:34 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Harriet the Superhero Kasi Lemmons’ first feature film since 2013’s Black Nativity is Harriet, a long overdue biopic of abolitionist, underground railroad conductor, and Union spy Harriet Tubman. It is amazing to me that it is twenty-goddamn-nineteen and we are only just now getting the first feature film about Harriet By Sarah • Sep 12, 2019 04:28 pm
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 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 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 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 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 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 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
