A Kind of Murder (Andy Goddard, 2016) The late, great American writer Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) – best known for books like…
“Collateral Beauty” Offers Mostly Collateral Damage
[This review will also appear at Film Festival Today, and when it does, I will link to that review.] Collateral Beauty (David Frankel,…
“La La Land” Is a Magical, Musical Paean to the Hollywood Dream Factory
[Note: This review also appeared on Film Festival Today.] La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016) From its exuberant opening musical number, set…
In Weary “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Take on the Death Star
[Note: This review also appeared on Film Festival Today.] Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards, 2016) Gradually, over the course of…
Ho, Ho, Ho: “Office Christmas Party” Delivers Just Enough Laughs to Mostly Justify Its Existence
[Note: This review also appeared on Film Festival Today.] Office Christmas Party (Josh Gordon/Will Speck, 2016) There is something both comfortably and…
Rodricks, Reed and DeLibero on the 70th Anniversary of “The Best Years of Our Lives”
Today, Linda DeLibero – Director, Film and Media Studies, Johns Hopkins University – and Christopher Llewellyn Reed (that’s me) – Chair and Professor, Department…
2 Pieces @hammertonail: Review of “Woman on Fire” + Interview with Director Otto Bell of “The Eagle Huntress”
In the past few weeks, Hammer to Nail posted a couple of pieces of mine: a review of Woman on Fire, a documentary about…
“Manchester by the Sea” Is a Moving (and Messy) Meditation on Redemption
Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016) Manchester by the Sea is only the third feature film from writer/director Kenneth Lonergan,…
Mostly Entertaining “The Duelist” Is a Revenge Tale with a Russian Twist
The Duelist (“Дуэлянт”) (Aleksey Mizgirev, 2016) A very silly, if often dramatically effective, confection of a 19th-century period thriller, the new…
“Nocturnal Animals” Suffocates Us in Its Constrictive Embrace
Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford, 2016) Until just recently, it would have been hard to imagine seeing a film that would make Nicholas Winding…
