Crisp Criticism - "Dunkirk", "A Quiet Passion", "The Bad Batch"

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Julien Faddoul

Dunkirk **

Miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada, and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between May 26- June 04, 1940, during Battle of France in World War II.

Bombastic, but deft and earnest terror-suffused WWII film assembled in its director’s typical entangling structure – encompassing three separate timelines – and shot in fierce 65mm. But also typical with Nolan, the emotion is frustratingly self-conscious. There is a valuable relinquishing of dialogue but an over-emphasis on sound and music. Altogether, it contains both his mastery of cinematic momentum and his disappointing self-aggrandization.

wd – Christopher Nolan

ph – Hoyte van Hoytema

pd – Nathan Crowley

m – Hans Zimmer

ed – Lee Smith

cos – Jeffrey Kurland

p – Emma Thomas

Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Harry Styles, James D'Arcy, Aneurin Barnard, Barry Keoghan, Tom Glynn-Carney, Bobby Lockwood

Crisp Criticism - "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "The Lost City of Z", "Baby Driver", "The Beguiled"

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Julien Faddoul

Spider-Man: Homecoming *

Several months after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.

The third incarnation of this story in 15 years. For this reason, and the usual Marvel movie flaws of tired beats, terrible action and the moronically dogged adherence to fan-service, no amount of nimbleness and charm – not that there is a great deal – can starve off the inborn monotony. Early sequences involving high school antics work the best.

d – Jon Watts

w – Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers   (Based on the Characters by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko)

ph – Salvatore Totino

pd – Oliver Scholl

m – Michael Giacchino

ed – Debbie Berman, Dan Lebental

cos – Lousie Frogley

p – Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal

Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, Tyne Daly, Abraham Attah, Hannibal Buress, Kenneth Choi, Selenis Leyva, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, Garcelle Beauvais, Michael Chernus

Crisp Criticism - "Transformers: The Last Knight", "Despicable Me 3", "Okja", "The House"

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Julien Faddoul

Transformers: The Last Knight

In the absence of Optimus Prime, a battle for survival has commenced between the human race and the Transformers.

A bad movie for all the reasons exhibited in the previous installments. Totally incomprehensible.

d – Michael Bay

w – Akiva Goldsman, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, Ken Nolan

ph – Jonathan Sela

pd – Jeffrey Beecroft

m – Steve Jablonsky

ed – Roger Barton, Adam Gerstel, Debra Neil-Fisher, John Refoua, Mark Sanger, Calvin Wimmer

cos – Lisa Lovaas

p – Ian Bryce, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy, Tom De Santo

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Gemma Chan, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, John DiMaggio, Jess Harnell, Laura Haddock, Jerrod Carmichael, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins, Stanley Tucci, Santiago Cabrera