Crisp Criticism - "Mudbound", "The Killing of a Sacred Deer", "Detroit"

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Julien Faddoul

Mudbound **

Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life.

Sprawling, confident racial drama, graciously acted and directed. It suffers from some oversimplification and thus the intense emotions on display aren’t always cohesive.

d – Dee Rees

w – Dee Rees, Virgil Williams   (Based on the Novel by Hillary Jordan)

ph – Rachel Morrison

pd – David J. Bomba

m – Tamar-Kali

ed – Mako Kamitsuna

cos – Michael T. Boyd

p – Sally Jo Effenson, Cassian Elwes, Kim Roth, Carl Effenson, Tim Zajaros, Christopher Lemole, Charles D. King

Cast: Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Garrett Hedlund, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, Jonathan Banks, Kerry Cahill, Dylan Arnold, Lucy Faust, Kelvin Harrison

Crisp Criticism - "Justice League", "Murder on the Orient Express", "Brigsby Bear", "Brad's Status", "Good Time"

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Julien Faddoul

Justice League

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.

A terrible film; suffers from the usual suspects tenfold; so damn hard to muster anything more to say about any of these garbage superhero movies.

d – Zack Snyder

w – Chris Terrio, Joss Whedon, Zack Snyder   (Based on the Characters Created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, William Moulton Marston, Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel)

ph – Fabian Wagner

pd – Patrick Tatopoulos

m – Danny Elfman

ed – David Brenner, Richard Pearson, Martin Walsh

cos – Michael Wilkinson

p – Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Jon Berg, Geoff Johns

Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams, Amber Heard, JK Simmons, Jeremy Irons, Willem Dafoe, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, Kiersey Clemons

Crisp Criticism - "Thor: Ragnarok", "The Snowman", "Columbus", "A Bad Moms Christmas"

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Julien Faddoul

Thor: Ragnarok *

Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself having to stop the destruction of his homeworld by his sister.

Colourful, pleasant enough stand-alone Marvel film but to what end? What are we accomplishing here? The onrush of fatigue as soon as these movies begin – with every beat falling into line at almost the exact same breaths-in-time as to whatever film preceded it – is now beyond exasperating. Waititi’s humour has been deep-fried in Whedonisms, most of the cast is flat and the constant beckoning to 1980’s culture is baffling.

d – Taika Waititi

w – Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, Christopher L. Yost   (Based on the Comic Books by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby)

ph – Javier Aguirresarobe

pd – Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent

m – Mark Mothersbaugh

ed – Zene Baker, Joel Negron

cos – Mayes C. Rubeo

p – Kevin Feige

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins, Tadanobu Asano, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel House, Taika Waititi