daily stream: in case you need more dramatic Robert Downey Jr., post ‘Oppenheimer’
2014’s The Judge is available to rent or buy on Prime and Apple TV on both sides of the Atlantic.
Billy Bob Thornton
Bad Santa 2 movie review: been there, done that, licked the candy cane lasciviously
Hard to believe it took 13 years to get a sequel to our screens and still have it show not a hint of Bad Santa’s inspiration or subversion.
Our Brand Is Crisis movie review: unearned (and unneeded) sentiment
A protagonist who revels in the sheer cynicism of her job gets a sentimental redemption out of nowhere; Sandra Bullock’s comedic chops are undercut by it.
The Judge movie review: you can go home again
Avoids feeling as supremely calculated as it is, perhaps because Robert Downey Jr.’s snark and Robert Duvall’s crusty pragmatism vaccinate against it.
Parkland review (London Film Festival)
This poignant and painful ensemble drama about the lesser-known figures caught up in the JFK assassination reminds us that history happens to regular people, too.
Puss in Boots (review)
I’m pretty sure that the reason Antonio Banderas was put on this planet was to make Puss in Boots speak…
Mark Wahlberg admits ‘The Happening’ was terrible; Billy Bob Thornton says Hollywood is terrible; a female Old Spice Man spoof; more: leftover links
Plus: first-grader teased over her Star Wars water bottle; journalistic ethics getting a workout; saga of a film critic banned from screenings who got her buddies at The New York Times to intervene; more…
trailer break: ‘Faster’ redband trailer
I can’t really tell what this movie is about except that Dwayne Johnson is really pissed…
The Ice Harvest movie review
John Cusack as a neo-noir antihero? Hell yes: he’s been building to this his whole career. And now he’s done it, yanked the rug out from under us and left us to wonder just how far over he’s gone.
best production design of 2004 (plus some other bests and worsts of the year)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (encompassing production design, costumes, and makeup) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou I usually favor invented worlds when picking the year’s best production work… and maybe I’ve done that here, too. Steve Zissou’s universe feels like it’s a baby step off skew with our own — the colors just a tad flat, … more…
