‘Ingrid Goes West’ a haunting portrait of social media connections, disconnections

Posted on September 1, 2017 by reelentropy

Along with the astounding detail shots, Olsen’s effortlessness and Plaza’s palpable discomfort in front of the camera really sell the movie. Images courtesy Neon.

9/10 Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza, who also produces) sits awake in the night, starring unflinchingly at her phone with tear-glazed eyes that seem skinned as if by some outside tormentor, her breathing unsteady, double-tapping to favorite the Instagram pictures of her best friend, Charlotte (Meredith Hagner). Most of the recent ones concern her wedding, to which Thorburn wasn’t invited.

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Nailbiting ‘Good Time’ hits theaters

Posted on August 30, 2017 by reelentropy

Images courtesy A24.

8/10 Moviegoers are sure to have a Good Time watching this movie!

 

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Late-summer catch-up: ‘Logan Lucky’

Posted on August 25, 2017 by reelentropy

Look at that face! That is the face of a man having a blast. Images courtesy Bleecker Street.

8/10 Director Steven Soderbergh returns from his brief retirement entirely on his terms, making a film he had complete control over, for better or worse. Logan Lucky drags at times, but is far more often a side-splitting redneck romp that sees Daniel Craig having fun in a role for the first time in years.

Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum, who also produces) works construction on a repair site on the Charlotte Motor Speedway. After he’s let go for liability reasons involving insurance, he recruits his one-armed brother, Clyde (Adam Driver), in a plan to rob the place. The plan hinges on demolition expert Joe Bang (Craig), who is incarcerated.

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Late-summer catch-up: ‘The Glass Castle’

Posted on August 25, 2017 by reelentropy

Image courtesy Lionsgate.

3/10 I have a pretty violent reaction when I see children in predicaments, so The Glass Castle was a bit of a difficult watch.

The movie follows the real-life upbringing of Jeanette Walls (Chandler Head, Ella Anderson and Brie Larson), who wrote the memoir on which the movie is based. Walls is raised by her alcoholic, abusive, quick-tempered, narcissistic, cultish father, Rex (Woody Harrelson), who can’t hold a job and uproots the family every few months to avoid debt collectors until Jeanette is 10. She and her three siblings eventually hatch a plan to leave Rex and their mother, Rose Mary (Naomi Watts).

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Late-summer catch-up: ‘Detroit’

Posted on August 23, 2017 by reelentropy

Image courtesy Annapurna Pictures.

This article contains coarse language and distressing content. 

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6/10 Both delving into the past and ripped from the headlines, Detroit explores America’s explosive racial divide. But like so much mass media that addresses these issues, it shies away at some troubling moments.

The film dramatizes the Algiers Motel incident during Motor City’s 1967 race riot, in which 10 black men and two white women were found together in the hotel and severely beaten and humiliated by police, three of them killed. While guarding the Great Lakes Mutual Life Insurance building from looters, police officers and national guardsmen said they heard shooting coming from the hotel annex building one block to the south. Storming the building, they found the guests and demanded to know who was shooting at them.

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