For better or worse, ‘The Report’ is a modern-day ‘All the President’s Men’
The film becomes all the more remarkable when considering its cinematically improbable source material.
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Author Archives: David Newman
Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen shine, ‘The Good Liar’ fails to
Yet while “The Good Liar” intermittently shines as a star vehicle, its uninspired screenplay drains the film of its stars’ absorbing promise.
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‘if….’ is a distant fantasy in 2019
As a piece of technical filmmaking, “if….” exists as a strongly subdued but ultimately slick slice of dark comedy that leans heavily on its infamous ending.
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Sharp critique at heart of ‘Alfie’
The classic 1966 film “Alfie,” director Lewis Gilbert’s adaptation of a play with the same name by Bill Naughton, appears on its surface to tap directly into the beating heart of this era (and indeed is often cited as a classic “Swinging Sixties” film).
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‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ at 50: Looking back at the first modern film
But fundamentally, “Butch Cassidy” exists as a red-letter date in film history not for what it changed but because it was the face of that change.
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‘The Death of Dick Long’ is inconsistent yet deeply empathetic
Simply put, “The Death of Dick Long” is a film about the confused death of the proud, dick-measuring masculinity of American tradition.
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The existential horror of buying ‘Pulp Fiction’ posters in college
My personality cannot be reduced to the cliched pretension that compels me to choose between “Pulp Fiction” and “Fight Club” for the honor of watching me sleep at night.
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In ‘Sticks and Stones,’ Dave Chappelle takes an all too expected swing at a world rapidly leaving him behind
Progressive social critique is wide-ranging, and it’s admittedly hard to juggle all of it when considering the growing role of social media in cultural criticism.
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Though it despises Steve Bannon, ‘The Brink’ still hands him soapbox to stand on
Pound for pound, attempts at holding Bannon’s agenda accountable are severely outweighed by a suffocating sense of confusion.
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‘The Aftermath’ is misguided, poorly conceived afterthought
“The Aftermath” largely ignores this difficult world, instead lazily smushing a painfully awkward affair together with shoddy political side-stories. We the audience are left with a frustrating mess that, at its worst, is little more than misguided Hallmark soap.
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