Andrea Arnold is British, but American Honey is very much a movie about the United States, lovingly constructed in the storied independent style of that country. Not only does it feature a singalong to the Lady Antebellum song it’s named after (“Nothin’ sweeter than summertime/and American honey”), it also has Riley Keough, granddaughter of Elvis […]
movie review
Posted inArts + Music
The Accountant‘s simple math
Ben Affleck is The Accountant in The Accountant, but he’s not just any accountant—he’s one with high-functioning autism, several aliases, an Airstream full of stolen fine art and literally killer hand-to-hand combat skills. (Shades of…Jason Bourne?) In The Accountant, a ridiculous yet entertaining action movie that’s at least aimed at adults, Affleck’s Christian Wolff is […]
Posted inArts + Music
Top 10 movies from 2015
Amy If you had any wistful feelings about Amy Winehouse’s talent falling from the earth, they likely turned to white-hot rage after viewing Asif Kapadia’s exploration of the life leading up to her overdose. A puppet of her father and her husband, Winehouse’s onscreen personality turns from healthy spitfire to skeletal mess in a slow […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: The Diary of A Teenage Girl
The brash, R-rated cousin to the summer’s other wonderful coming-of-age story, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, The Diary of a Teenage Girl follows teenager Minnie Goetze through an auspicious sexual awakening atop the hills of San Francisco in the 1970s. Completely of her own accord, Minnie (Bel Powley, a terrific UK find) decides […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Shaun the Sheep
The team at Aardman is back with Shaun the Sheep, another endlessly delightful animal romp based on the 2007 television series. Written and directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak, it’s a bunch of cute, Claymated mishaps as farm kid Shaun tries to chill in the big city, only to have The Farmer end up […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Trainwreck
The Year of Amy Schumer hit the big screen this week, and unlike so many failed Saturday Night Live skit expansions and the first 15 years of Chris Rock’s movie career, this is a natural and fitting progression. Schumer is no mere viral comedian, not just another woman on the street asking sex questions—though honestly […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Salt of the Earth
And now for something a little more sobering for your summer, here’s Wim Wenders with The Salt of the Earth, a stunning retrospective of the life and career of the Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado, who began his career shooting the working class all over the world, then moved into war zones and the environment. A […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Magic Mike XXL
The first Magic Mike, directed with a portentous hand by Steven Soderbergh—he of three Ocean’s movies, yet obviously thinking he was above such tawdry material—was nevertheless a huge hit and, in conjunction with 21 Jump Street, catapulted Channing Tatum onto the A-list. Where the original got bogged down in a sparkless love story and too […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Inside Out
Amy Poehler is perfectly cast as Joy—as in the feeling of—in Pixar’s wonderful Inside Out, a thrilling return to form after a couple of lazy sequels. We’re inside the head of Riley, an 11-year-old hockey-playing happy-go-lucky kid whose world is rocked when her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. Poehler’s natural warmth, quick wit […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Clouds of Sils Maria
Olivier Assayas directs Juliette Binoche in the odd, beautifully shot drama Clouds of Sils Maria, which began confounding audiences on the film festival circuit last fall. Binoche stars as fading star Maria Enders, who is getting ready to appear in a restaging of the lesbian romance that gave her artistic credibility and made her famous, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Spy
While we’ve wasted years waiting for the Scorsese-DiCaprio love affair to produce something worthwhile, here are Melissa McCarthy and Paul Feig with their third hit in a row, not-so-curiously devoid of the thinkpieces and circle jerks. McCarthy’s short appearance in Feig’s wonderful 2011 jam Bridesmaids cracked her star wide open—though, as millions of people are […]