8 years ago
All posts by Tomris Laffly
David O. Russell’s Fulfilling “Joy”
David O. Russell has always displayed a knack for formulating a dose of playful, hectic kitsch. From American Hustle’s big hairs, sideburns, and bare-chested outfits to the chaos-seeking, loudmouth families in The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, his chatt...
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“Youth” Leaves a Bland Aftertaste
Considering its talent, lush beauty, and quietly simmering passion, Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth leaves a rather bland aftertaste. The artful film aims to be an exercise on aging and the diminishing currency of self-worth over time. Yet, its ideas are insinuated a...
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“Spotlight” Is An Exceptional Ode To Journalism
In 2002, The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team—consisting of a group of top-notch investigative journalists—unveiled the deeply rooted, systemic sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church, which led to the surfacing of many molestation cases across the US...
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“Our Brand is Crisis” Is Sharp, But Self-Congratulatory
In the most basic terms, any political campaign is an exercise in marketing. Every election, regardless of its geography or scale, is a painstaking branding process where candidates, like cereal or potato chips, are wrapped in attractive packaging and sold via...
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“Nasty Baby” Is A Weird Beast of a Film
Following Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus and Magic Magic, Chilean writer/director Sebastían Silva once again treads softly around the rare intersection of drama, suspense, and comedy with his latest film, Nasty Baby. Displaying a consistent knack for c...
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“Knock Knock” Is Funnier Than It Is Scary
In Eli Roth’s home-invasion thriller Knock Knock, Keanu Reeves plays Evan Webber, a wholesome husband and dad who temporarily loses his sanity and indulges in temptation. The film is reasonably suspenseful at a decently sustained pace, but it’s more amusing th...
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“Sicario” Needs More Substance And More Emily Blunt
If Doug Liman’s thoroughly entertaining sci-fi flick Edge of Tomorrow demonstrated and reinforced anything besides the inexhaustible movie stardom of Tom Cruise, it was that Emily Blunt was an action heroine of her own accord, more than capable of holding her ...
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“Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine” Is Unsettling, But Only At Times
Alex Gibney’s Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine captures the titular Silicon Valley titan as a genius with questionable morals at best. During Jobs’ lifetime, his virtuosic output was front and center and the public overlooked, say, the fact that Apple put a ...
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“Sinister 2” Is Numbing Instead of Frightening
An old house, precocious children, ghosts, and a troubled past haunting a family. At first glance and on paper, Ciarán Foy’s Sinister 2, the haphazard and poorly written sequel to the focused and contrastingly minimal horror flick Sinister (2012), has all the ...
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“Rogue Nation” Is The Best “Mission: Impossible” Film So Far
Ethan Hunt (the 53-going-on-35 Tom Cruise) may not be considered a superhero, but he undoubtedly possesses powers that appear to be superhuman. He may not have a web to sling and his most impressive gadget continues to be a ludicrously transformative face-mask...
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