by
Julien Faddoul
Ad Astra **
An astronaut travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of the planet.
Stunningly constructed in the manner typical of the director, the narrative essentially follows the same trajectory as Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness (or, if you will, Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.) But as is often the hitch with Gray, the thematic rhetoric is glib – the relationship between fathers and sons being indicative of humanity’s primary purpose to connect with one another – with a lack of characterization and an over-reliance on voice-over.
d – James Gray
w – James Gray, Ethan Gross
ph – Hoyte Van Hoytema
pd – Kevin Thompson
m – Max Richter
ed – John Axelrad, Lee Haugen
cos – Albert Wolsky
p – Dede Gardner, James Gray, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, Brad Pitt, Rodrigo Teixeira
Cast: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, Kimberly Elise, Loren Dean, Donnie Keshawarz
Abominable *
A magical Yeti must return to his family.
Another strikingly designed CG DreamWorks film – especially in its construction of modern-day Shanghai – but far too predictable and formulaic to make any kind of impact otherwise.
wd – Jill Culton
co-d – Todd Wilderman
pd – Max Boas
m – Rupert Gregson-Williams
ed – Susan Fitzer
p – Suzanne Biurgy, Peilin Chou, Dave Polsky
Cast: Chloe Bennet, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Albert Tsai, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tsai Chin, Michelle Wong
Hustlers *
A crew of savvy former strip club employees band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.
Brisk, but overblown, flatly written and identity-less retelling of a true-life scam. Poorly shot in that ersatz Scorsese-style that has become irritatingly rampant for any modern film concerning high-end crime or the financial crisis. It is notable mostly for Lopez’s high-spirited performance.
wd – Lorene Scafaria (Based on the Article by Jessica Pressler)
ph – Todd Banhazl
pd – Jane Musky
ed – Kayla Emter
cos – Mitchell Travers
p – Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Jennifer Lopez, Adam McKay, Benny Medina
Cast: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, Cardi B, Mercedes Ruehl, Madeline Brewer
Rambo: Last Blood
Rambo must confront his past and unearth his ruthless combat skills to exact revenge in a final mission.
Cartoonish, lethargic action film with an uncomfortable attitude toward Mexico. All the freneticism wears thin fairly quickly.
d – Adrian Grunberg
w – Matthew Cirulnick, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Gordon (Based on the Character Created by David Morrell)
ph – Brendan Galvin
pd – Franco-Giacomo Carbone
m – Brian Tyler
ed – Carsten Kurpanek, Todd E. Miller
cos – Cristina Sopeña
p – Avi Lerner, Ariel Vromen, Steven Paul, Kevin King Templeton
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Yvette Monreal, Óscar Jaenada, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Paz Vega, Joaquín Cosio, Adriana Barraza, Louis Mandylor, Marco de la O
The Goldfinch
A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy Upper East Side family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
An all-too-stupid novel is adapted into a long, excruciating film, with amateurish thematic staging, a plot that relies on ridiculous contrivances, and performances that verge on embarrassing. Avoid at all costs.
d – John Crowley
w – Peter Straughan (Based on the Novel by Donna Tartt)
ph – Roger Deakins
pd – KK Barrett
m – Trevor Gureckis
ed – Kelley Dixon
cos – Kasia Walicka-Maimone
p – Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Nicole Kidman, Ashleigh Cummings, Willa Fitzgerald, Denis O'Hare
Judy
Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
Corny and all-surface; the only two reasons a film like this exists is for its lead performer (doesn’t really matter whom) to show off their impersonation skills and for audiences who are too lazy to read a book on the subject.
d – Rupert Goold
w – Tom Edge (Based on the Play by Peter Quilter)
ph – Ole Bratt Birkeland
pd – Kave Quinn
m – Gabriel Yared
ed – Melanie Olvier
cos – Jany Temime
p – David Livingstone
Cast: Renée Zellweger, Rufus Sewell, Finn Wittrock, Michael Gambon, Jessie Buckley, Bella Ramsey
Andrei Rublev ****
The life, times and afflictions of the 15th century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
An astonishing and superb recreation of medieval life that dramatizes the eternal dilemma of the artist, whether to take part in the life around him or merely to comment on it. Mise-en-scène and lensing are masterful throughout. Tarkovsky wrote in his diary: "Talent is a misfortune, for on the one hand it entitles a person to neither merit nor respect, and on the other it lays on him tremendous responsibilities."
d – Andrei Tarkovsky
w – Andrey Konchalovskiy, Andrei Tarkovsky
ph – Vadim Yusov
pd – Evgeniy Chernyaev
m – Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov
ed – Tatyana Egorycheva, Lyudmila Feyginova, Olga Shevkunenko
cos – Maya Abar-Baranovskaya, Lidiya Novi
p – T. Ogorodnikova
Cast: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolai Sergeyev, Irma Raush, Nikolay Burlyaev
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