Author: Rob Dean

“Drive-Away Dolls” is an inspired throwback to a very particular type of film that was in abundance in the mid-‘90s. Titles like “The Doom Generation,” “Freeway,” “Love and a .45,” and “Buffalo ‘66” amongst many others that were an oddball merging of the road comedy and crime story populated by larger-than-life characters that drove a narrative of collision between the elements, all while usually commenting on some aspect of American society. This small window of sub-genre was seemingly borne on the backs of the independent movie movement, but also movies like “Blood Simple” and “Raising Arizona”—so it’s only fitting that…

Cinematic disasters shouldn’t be this boring. Directed by S.J. Clarkson, “Madame Web” is a collection of misfires and missteps, awkward dialogue, weightless action, shoehorned-in references—all told without any sense of urgency at all. The idea of a villain relentlessly pursuing his prey seems like it should be a pressing matter, but the film takes a week off to get lost in a glut of expository dialogue (the whole movie’s default dialogue mode). The actors do their best, but the script is leaden and there’s no real visual splendor to behold—not even in the ironic, “look how awkward/cheap/phony this is” way…

A jet-setting, action-packed, espionage comedy shouldn’t be this boring. “Argylle,” from director Matthew Vaughn and writer Jason Fuchs, boasts a vast array of beautiful and talented people, displays clever fight choreography, and occupies a constantly twisting narrative…yet none of it does much to elicit more than a chuckle or half smirk. Vaughn has all the pieces gathered together, but the resulting movie is a tedious over-long slog that never truly engages or seemingly knows what it wants to be. There are a couple of genuinely good, standout sequences that suggest what could have been had a different tone or approach…

2023 was a pretty great year for film. Across all genres and continents came amazing titles that weren’t just exemplary of the possibilities found in each but also furthered the very language of cinema. Amidst the best of them, a mix of veteran voices and new artists blended universal truths with the deeply personal. It was a surprising year where multiple movies that would normally be solely considered Intellectual Property (IP) cash grabs trading on the old and familiar instead became a chance for artists to experiment and change the very game of filmmaking. There’s a lot of pain explored…

It’s always interesting to detect themes that run through an artist’s career. Filmmaker Michael Mann, from “The Keep” to the “Miami Vice” television series to “Blackhat” and everything in between, constantly focuses on men (always men) who are exceptional in their chosen fields but whose personal lives are a bit of a mess. What’s more, there tends to be a direct correlation between that flawed world they’ve created and the same traits that have driven them to succeed. Mann’s oeuvre suggests that greatness always carries a price, and it’s when these men try to have it both ways that disaster…

How do you define a good performance in a movie? Obviously, it changes depending on what the role calls for and the project in which it’s occurring. But one (overly general) rule of thumb is that the audience forgets they are watching an actor and become entranced by this wholly realized person on screen. By that metric, lead actor/co-writer/director Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” is easily one of the best of the year as it is powered by two of the greatest acting turns in 2023. Cooper and co-star Carey Mulligan fully disappear into the roles of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre,…

While I’m not a fan of the movie, there’s a line in 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” that has stayed with me: “Candy doesn’t have to have a point. That’s why it’s candy.” That quote kept popping up in my head while watching “Napoleon,” the latest from revered director Ridley Scott. Make no mistake, “Napoleon” is not candy—it’s not enjoyable for its own sake or some sort of sweet reward that stimulates the senses. But Scott’s new film does seem to be lacking a point, to the extent that I kept searching for some greater meaning or a reason…

The story of America is a story of greed. In its best form, striving to attain more is the tell-tale sign of ambition, often sold as part of the American dream. At its worst, and most common, it is those in power coalescing more power through any means necessary, usually at the expense of the poor and already oppressed. “Killers of the Flower Moon” proves once again that there is no better artist who understands the complex rot at the heart of America than Martin Scorsese. With his latest film, the director (who also co-wrote with Eric Roth, adapted from…

There is something remarkable about being able to look at a block of stone and see the statue waiting to emerge. Making something out of nothing is certainly a real talent, but there’s a singular skill in looking at base materials and knowing how to transform them into something greater. That is what Mike Flanagan and his cohorts have down with “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The original Edgar Allan Poe story — about a man who visits his nerve-addled friend in a crumbling house and then prematurely buries a relative before everything comes crashing apart — is…

Worldbuilding in film requires a lot of elements to come together. To establish a reality with its own rules and striations, one must draw from multiple sources to flesh out the fictional space. There’s the production and costume design that makes it feel like a lived-in place; the cinematography that captures the look and action of it; and the writing and character work that reveals the type of people who inhabit this world and what their dialogue says about their society as a larger whole. The different departments come together to conjure up something new, taking an imagined reality and…