Out to own today:
The Revenant
 | “I’m not afraid to die anymore. I done it already,” Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) The innovative film is rare (recent examples: THE TRIBE, WHIPLASH, CALVARY), but the hunger for cinematic creativity can also be sated when a fresh spin is given to what has come before. To build on artistic/genre history is surely the holy grail for the devoted fan of the silver screen. THE REVENANT comes along and grabs you by the lapels, looks you square in the eye, before punching you in the stomach, and somehow leaves you with an ecstatic smile across your face. 2015 has had two other examples of filmmaking doing that: VICTORIA and MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. [To read more, click here.] |
Vinyl season one
 | “Do I look like a f***ing Wall Street man?” Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) One of the first lines of dialogue, in the initial series, of the normally superlative HBO television channel roster. Is this a sly nod to Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter’s earlier collaboration, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET? After that winner, and the engaging BOARDWALK EMPIRE (I am up to season three as of writing), this reviewer expected a lot more from VINYL. A lot, lot more. This is sub-MAD MEN self-destruction. Over ten episodes we repetitively witness the lead make terrible decisions to the point of wondering how he became the head of a famous record label. Don Draper, in contrast, is given observations that make us see the protagonist’s skill. [To read more, click here.] |
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