Screen
Jacko, through the eyes of his estate
How much of Michael Jackson’s This Is It can we believe...
Crank it up
There are three perfect scenes in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. Not “good” scenes. Not “great” scenes. Three perfect scenes. Now, as a whole, The Scorch Trials is not a perfect movie. Nor is it a great one. But it is very good, and most of that has to do with ...
Two bloated egos harmonize in ‘Elvis & Nixon’
There is an often-repeated anecdote that Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest and came in second. It’s a popular story, one...
This year’s Oscar-nominated shorts are sublime
Just as the short story trembles in the footprint of the novel, the short film plays David to featurelength film Goliaths. But with the help of shiny, naked bald men, these wee bits of cinematic splendor step from the shadows and sling their short shots. And in the ...
BIFF: Just give him a camera
The National is a band of brothers. Aaron Dessner, on guitar and keyboard, and his twin brother Bryce, on guitar, are joined by Scott and Bryan Devendorf on bass and drums. Then there’s the odd-man-out: Matt Berninger, lead singer of the indie rock band...
Welcome back
The Boulder International Film Festival is a local cinematic staple. And in 2020, BIFF was one of the last in-person events held before the...
Pew! Pew! Pew! ’Merica!
GI Joe: Retaliation’s script is so horrible, it should be in MoMA. Just like some people can’t stop staring at the world’s ugliest dog, this screenplay is fascinatingly hideous blather. It’s entirely possible the whole script was verbs: “shoot, explode, stab, scream...
An Ang Lee masterpiece
Being stranded in the middle of an unforgiving ocean is a theme that’s been explored in films as diverse as Swiss Family Robinson and Hitchcock’s surprisingly tense Lifeboat. But being cast adrift for more than 200 days in a lifeboat with an adult Bengal tiger? It ...
Once upon a time in Iran
Somewhere in Turkey, a man and a woman obtain a foraged passport. The passport is for her, and once the man receives his, he...
Brotherly love
A mid all the promotional noise for Up in the Air and Avatar and the rest, it’s easy to overlook a drama like Brothers, with its plain-spoken title and stern subject matter...
