Director Doug Liman has the misfortune of being labeled the close-but-no-cigar guy in my head. He’s the kickstarter of franchises. The first instalment guy who then has to watch how others improve on the groundwork he’s done. The man who delivers serviceable entertainment that’s too fleeting to make a lasting impression. His new film ‘Chaos …
Tag Archives: based on a book
Review – Moffie
Kai Luke Brummer as “Nicholas” in Oliver Hermanus’ MOFFIE. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films release. Not since Top Gun has there been a movie dripping with toxic masculinity and homoeroticism. In 1981 Apartheid is still thriving in South Africa and 16 year old Nicholas (Kai Luke Brümmer) has been drafted into the army …
Hulu Review – ‘The Sister’
Intriguing British murder mystery ‘The Sister’ plays like a typical thriller, but quickly starts to test its limits when some inexplicable elements get pulled in to make the story divert from its rather standard plot. Based on the book ‘Burial’ by Neil Cross, who also wrote the script for this adaptation, the Hulu Original mini-series …
Netflix Review – ‘The Midnight Sky’
THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) Kyle Chandler as Mitchell. Cr. Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX ©2020 To be honest with you, I’ve never watched a film that’s directed by George Clooney. There’s no real reason why I haven’t, mostly because the subject matter of his films don’t particularly speak to me. But with ‘The Midnight Sky’ being a dystopian …
Hulu Review – ‘Books Of Blood’
Bennett (Yul Vazquez), shown. (Photo by: Courtesy of Hulu) Hulu gets ready for Huluween by dropping horror-infused content all month long. Based on Clive Barker’s acclaimed and influential horror anthology Books of Blood, this feature takes audiences on a journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three uncanny tales tangled in space and time. Brannon Braga’s feature directorial …
TIFF20 Review – ‘Passion Simple’
The second film on our #TIFF20 schedule has taken a turn for the worse. Danielle Arbid (‘Parisienne’) takes on Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical fiction novel that focuses intensively and almost exclusively on the passion our protagonist has for a man with whom she has an affair. Once one of the hottest books in France, now one …
Short Film Review – ‘The Tell Tale Heart’
First-time filmmaker McClain Lindquist takes a huge risk by adapting one of American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe’s short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ – and succeeds. For those who are not familiar with the story, the film follows the Narrator (played by Sonny Grimsley), who is haunted by the “evil …
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Netflix Review – ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ Season 1
THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB Based on the best-selling book series that was highly popular in the 1980s and 1990s, Netflix’s new series ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’, follows the friendship and adventures of Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace), the genius but shy Mary-Anne Spier (Malia Baker), the artsy Claudia Kishi (Momona Tamada – ‘To All The Boys: P.S. I …
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Netflix Review – ‘You’ Season 2
The first season of ‘You’ became a sleeper hit for Netflix. Based on Caroline Kepnes’ 2014 thriller novel of the same name, ‘You’ follows the life of a dangerously charming, intensely obsessive young man who will go to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of those he is transfixed by. Season 2 has …
Review – ‘Doctor Sleep’
“The world is one big hospice with fresh air.” – Danny Torrance Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ was released almost 40 years ago. While everyone knows how much writer Stephen King disliked the film adaptation of his novel, he did decide to release a sequel to it, focusing on survivor Danny Torrance, in 2013. The Shining …