There was a time not long ago when a movie like “It: Chapter Two” would never even have a chance of existing. Horror movies often seem to fill a utility role in the cinematic marketplace, with low budgets and high percentage returns both inside and out of the studio system. But even with their successes, it’s rare that a horror movie forces its way to the forefront in the way that Andy Muschietti’s “It” did in 2017, becoming the most successful horror movie in the history of the genre and a bonafide cultural moment. The design of the first installment,…
Author: Steve Katz
Richard Linklater is one of the industry’s more prolific directors, having averaged a film just about every two years since arriving on the indie scene with 1991’s “Slacker.” It’s been an eclectic career full of mainstream movies like “School of Rock” and “Bad News Bears” and more serious work like the “Before” trilogy and “Boyhood.” Not all of his films work, but when they do, he’s one of the more satisfying storytellers around. His latest movie is “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” an adaptation of Maria Semple’s 2012 novel of the same name, which is predominantly told in an epistolary style…
Eventually, all of the nostalgia of our childhood will be mined for our money and enjoyment. The current nostalgia trends are solely focused on the 1980s and early ‘90s, as evidenced by the likes of “Stranger Things” and “Ready Player One.” The latest example of this trend is the feature film adaptation of the renowned horror anthology series, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” After “Goosebumps” got the big screen treatment, it seemed inevitable that other beloved children’s horror series would follow suit, but it took the involvement of acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro to get the project off…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A group of criminals get pinched when a planned heist goes south. The wives they left behind, suddenly finding themselves deprived of their household’s sole breadwinner, decide to take matters into their own hands and pick up right where their husbands left off. No, this is not a description of “Widows,” Steve McQueen’s gleefully slick crime caper from 2018, but it does cover the high-level plot of “Straight Outta Compton” writer Andrea Berloff’s directorial debut. Like “Widows” (which it will have no choice but be compared to), “The Kitchen” is based off…
Of all the most popular and successful movie franchises in the world, “Fast and Furious” has to be the least likely worldwide juggernaut. Growing from humble beginnings as a well-meaning if boneheaded series of muscle car fetish flicks into an undeniable cultural icon, these movies have ballooned in size and scope over the years, which, alongside some well-publicized beef between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel, has necessitated fracturing the series moving forward. The screen is just too small for all this high-octane personality. As a result, Johnson and fellow star Jason Statham have forged out on their own for the…
It’s natural to be skeptical of Disney’s latest “live-action” remake of a beloved animated film from their vault. Sure, these movies often make obscene piles of money (look no further than the cool billion dollars pulled in by “Aladdin”), but few if any have managed to meet, let alone exceed, the quality of their predecessors. It’s tough not to think of them as anything more than cynical cash grabs – opportunities to plug holes in Disney’s release schedule without much creative development. That they would give “The Lion King” this treatment was not a question of if but when, and…
A movie like “Stuber” would have been just about impossible a decade ago. The new comedy starring Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista can only exist in a world where the ubiquity of cabs has been replaced by a new era of ride-sharing apps and regular people driving total strangers from destination to destination in an attempt to make ends meet. Plenty of movies have been made about cab drivers over the years, and while Ubers and Lyfts offer the same basic level of service for those who take them, the drivers are often not nearly as seasoned as cabbies tend…
It didn’t take long for Ari Aster to establish himself as the next big thing in the independent film scene. His directorial debut, “Hereditary,” took Sundance by storm under the watchful eye of powerhouse indie film distributor A24, and it became the second highest-grossing domestic release in the company’s impressive but niche portfolio. But more than the monetary returns, “Hereditary” became a big deal in the critic community with lead actress Toni Collette winning more than her fair share of critic awards, although that did not translate into much industry recognition. Still, it heralded Aster as an exciting new voice…
There’s something undeniable about having a clear and strong narrative hook like there is in “Yesterday.” It’s the sort of movie that translates extraordinarily well into, say, a two-minute trailer. The plot is simple: What if someone woke up to a world where The Beatles never existed, but he remembers all of their songs? It’s a flashy, eye-catching premise, and one that’s sure to guarantee a great soundtrack. Combine that with Oscar winner Danny Boyle in the director’s chair working from a script by celebrated scribe Richard Curtis (of “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill” fame), and “Yesterday” seems destined to…
Why make a “Shaft” movie in 2019? We’re now nearly 50 years removed from the three Richard Roundtree films that birthed one of the defining blaxploitation characters and nearly twenty 20 years beyond John Singleton’s attempt to revive the franchise with Samuel L. Jackson in the title role. It’s a little odd seeing Jackson as the second generation of Shaft considering he’s only six years younger than Roundtree, but it’s hard to deny he fits the mold. This new iteration of the franchise from director Tim Story (of “Barbershop” and “Ride Along” fame) seems particularly random. The 2000 “Shaft” didn’t…