Movie Reviews and Previews Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in (a Christmas) Carol (Lainey: the “Christmas” in the title is my corny addition and not Sarah’s. Am working on a theme today.) Todd Haynes made one of my all-time favorite films, Velvet Goldmine, which is about a young man’s sexual awakening at the hands of a more experienced man during By Sarah • Dec 24, 2015 10:49 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Will Smith in Concussion What a wasted opportunity. Concussion could have been such a kick in the nuts to the NFL. It’s produced by Sony, like the one studio in no way connected to the NFL either through advertising or broadcasting contracts, and Sony took enough of a “come at me, bro” attitude By Sarah • Dec 23, 2015 12:21 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight Usually we title these reviews with the name of a star in the film, but when it comes to Quentin Tarantino, he is the star of his films. Tarantino is a real auteur, the kind of filmmaker whose authorial stamp is so strong it overrides everything else about his films. By Sarah • Dec 22, 2015 01:26 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Tina Fey & Amy Poehler in Sisters No one expected much from Sisters, as it opened against Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but it managed to not entirely face-plant by taking in $13.4 million over the weekend. Even though it opened #3 behind Star Wars and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip, making it into By Sarah • Dec 21, 2015 02:13 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews New Star Wars, New Heroes, Old Journey SPOILER FREE There’s a moment in Star Wars: The Force Awakens that is so triumphant you will fist pump and want to cheer. There’s a moment where you will gasp, and one where you will get a lump in your throat, and one where you’ll grip your By Sarah • Dec 21, 2015 11:11 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Tina Fey tries war comedy Making good comedy is hard, making good war comedy is…ill advised, most of the time. Louis CK mined his own experience with the USO for a stellar three-episode arc on his TV show, Louie, and Three Kings holds up—though it’s not, strictly speaking, a comedy—but By Sarah • Dec 17, 2015 04:11 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Natalie Portman cosplays as Jackie O The first photo of Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in the film Jackie was released yesterday, and it shows Portman in a red suit and pearls with First Lady hair. She doesn’t look exactly like Jacqueline Kennedy—these are the days before Onassis—but it’s a solid approximation, By Sarah • Dec 17, 2015 12:41 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Gods of an Egypt that is very, very white Two years after Ridley Scott and Exodus got dragged behind the outrage truck for whitewashing ancient Egypt by casting predominately white actors to play Egyptian characters, director Alex Proyas is courting the same controversy with Gods of Egypt, a movie also set in ancient Egypt and starring a bunch of By Sarah • Dec 16, 2015 03:27 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Scarlett Johansson will Move That Body After not having much of an opinion on her, Scarlett Johansson has risen to the top of my “favorite actresses” list over the last few years. It’s due to a combination of behind the scenes strategizing I appreciate—she’s engineered a career resurgence every young actress should study— By Sarah • Dec 16, 2015 11:16 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Join us at the High Rise I missed Tom Hiddleston’s other film at TIFF, High Rise, but I remember hearing reactions from people who saw it and they were wildly divided. People either LOVED it, or HATED it, with very little in between, which is par for the course with director Ben Wheatley. Wheatley doesn’ By Sarah • Dec 15, 2015 03:21 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Independence Day 2: Xenu’s Revenge Independence Day is one of the great dumb-fun movies of the 1990s, and in 2016, twenty years after Will Smith punched an alien in the face, the sequel—officially titled Independence Day: Resurgence—will hit theaters, though without Smith. (This website will tell you why if you don’t By Sarah • Dec 15, 2015 02:17 pm
Sit DOWN Shame, Ridiculous 6. Shame, shame. After an incident on set in which several Native American actors—and the cultural advisor—walked off Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous 6, Netflix released a (sh*tty) non-apology basically saying we were harshing their mellow by overreacting because the movie is “broad satire” and the diverse cast is By Sarah • Dec 14, 2015 03:47 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Jennifer Lawrence in JOY When the SAG Award and Golden Globe nominations dropped last week, JOY, a presumed awards season frontrunner, only picked up two honours. Underwhelmed? Surprised? You shouldn't be. Despite the hype of being the third Jennifer Lawrence-David O.Russell collaboration, the buzz is tepid for a reason. Yes, By Joanna • Dec 14, 2015 12:24 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Chris Hemsworth in In The Heart of the Sea In the Heart of the Sea is an adaptation of a book by the same name, which recounts the sinking of the whaleship Essex in 1820, the story that loosely inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. The book is really excellent, but the movie is dead boring, and it By Sarah • Dec 14, 2015 11:22 am
Movie Reviews and Previews X-Men: Apocalypse fails to register The trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse is here, and it’s awful. It’s even worse than the Superhero Face Punch trailer, but where that one shot itself in the foot by revealing the entire plot of the movie, X-Men is done in by a curious emptiness. I LIKE By Sarah • Dec 11, 2015 02:05 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews No Depps at the Globes? The Hollywood Foreign Press Association went with Will Smith over Johnny Depp for Best Actor Drama at the Golden Globes. Normally those starf-ckers are all up in Johnny’s ass. Maybe they’re over his scarves. I’m curious though to know how much international press, like proper interviews, By Lainey • Dec 11, 2015 01:29 pm
