West Side Story goes south
Movies: West Side Story
Steven Spielberg's attempt to resuscitate the Broadway classic stalls in ruts of well-intentioned earnestness and homage to American cliché.
Streaming on Prime Video
Steven Spielberg attempts a fresh take on the Leonard Bernstein / Stephen Sondheim musical that rocked the nation
back in 1961 and picked up 11 oscars at the same time. This new version tries to renovate classic American themes -- such as race, class and opportunity -- and on some scores, it succeeds in reiterating the failures and flaws of the American experiment with a fresh accent. Tribalism, gang warfare and notions of what makes up a "real American" push through the ambient contrivances... because
that's what Speilberg's brand is sort of based on: Hollywood B.S. Because he has always believed the big screen dream, there's an earnestness to the undertaking that saves it from the schmaltz flats, but there's a simple snag in the mix. The movie is a sleepy dream.
Spielberg ...
The Power of the Dog leaves a mark
Movie review: The Power of the Dog
Jesse Plemons and Benedict Cumberbatch flirt with a cowboy take on Cain and Abel in Jane Campion's dusty, and decidedly lusty, moral fable
New on Netflix
Power of the Dog (new on Netflix/ select theatrical) - Remember Jane Campion's grand eclat called The Piano back in 1993? It hit some heavy chords with bloody stumps. The movie was as beautiful as it was horrific, and The Power of the Dog is probably the closest Campion has come to matching the throbbing genius of her breakout feature. Based on the 1967 novel by Tom Savage, in addition to the Bible verse Psalm 22:20, The Power of the Dog focuses on two brothers trying to make a life for themselves as ranchers in 1920s Montana. They are the sons of city folk with money, so their life on the ranch has been one that demanded a hands-on education. And they got it, thanks to a cowboy who we only as a ghost named Bronco Henry -- and he haunts the whole film via Benedict Cumberbatch. Deliver my ...
Movie review: Wonka offers golden ticket to pure happiness
Movie review: Wonka
Paul King, the director behind the warm and fuzzy Paddington movies, stretches a strong arm into the cauldron of modern chaos and pulls out a sweet, magical treat of a movie that affirms the power of a pure heart.
Movie review: Maestro reveals duelling Bernsteins living within a single legend
Movie review: Maestro
Bradley Cooper brings a heap of passion and a stylish eye to a dysfunctional love story that strips artistic ego down to the studs. Echoing the core themes of an entirely different film about Leonard Bernstein, Maestro may have you asking who plays Bernstein better: Bradley Cooper, or Cate Blanchett?
Movie review: Leave the World Behind captures a very creepy Zeitgeist
Movie review: Leave the World Behind
Sam Esmail serves up a sophisticated psychological thriller that nods to Cold War convention while conjuring the biggest threat of the twenty-first century: A world where money governs morality, friendships are subject to outside influence, and even your neighbour can’t be trusted as an ally.
Movie review: Oppenheimer fails to trigger emotional chain reaction
Movie review: Oppenheimer
Director and writer Christopher Nolan puts Cillian Murphy in the middle of a chaotic narrative in the hopes of harnessing the creative power of Robert J. Oppenheimer. The movie is packed with style and period inflections, but ends up an emotional dud.
