But before we meet Powell’s self-professed cowboy scientist Tyler, we follow Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Kate, a bright, aspiring scientist from Oklahoma, who’s both mesmerized by the beauty of twisters and seeking ways to tame their destructive power. The opening sequence—like De Bont’s escapade—is genuinely impressive and heartbreaking, recounting a miscalculated case of tornado chasing led by … Read more
The theater program is an oasis from all of that. “We’re here to be human again,” one participant says. It’s also a place where the effectiveness of art as a tool of enlightenment can be demonstrated just by showing a bunch of actors doing their thing. Paul Raci, who was so memorable as the hero’s mentor in “The Sound … Read more
Tamahori and co-writer Shane Danielsen may have taken some historical liberties in loosely basing their script on true events, creating composite characters or writing in new figures. Still, if the goal of “The Convert” was to give a sense of New Zealand when most of its residents called it by its Māori name, Aotearoa, then … Read more
Perkins sometimes loses his grip on that fever dream tone, such as in a late-film exposition dump that too directly and bizarrely seeks to explain what’s happened for the previous hour and change. Nightmares don’t need exposition dumps. It might sound nitpicky, but it’s indicative of an overall problem that hampers “Longlegs.” Despite the notable pre-release … Read more
The Night Stalker is on the loose, terrorizing innocent citizens who fear they’ll be his next victim. And conservatives are complaining that movies and music are going to turn America’s youth into Satanists. (Among the montage of period-specific news footage off the top is Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider testifying before the Senate about … Read more
Momose’s dazzlingly vibrant and heart-rending fantasy arrives on American screens mere weeks after John Krasinski’s recent live action/animation hybrid “IF” and just over a month ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Cartoon Network show “Forster’s Home for Imaginary Friends,” both fictions that navigate incredibly similar worlds of make-believe pals. Amid shape-shifting landscapes and a … Read more
“Escape” begins with some promise. We meet hyper-focused North Korean Sergeant Lim Kyu-nam (Lee Je-hoon) as he sneaks out of his barracks in the dead of night, shimmies past some guards, and plants a few stakes on the way to the Military Demarcation Line. Lim plotted a safe course through a literal mine field, and … Read more
After the forced bursts of energy, nightmarish dream sequences, and a strained bit of self-absolution recede, you soon realize that writer/director Niclas Larsson’s “Mother, Couch,” a morose, nonsensical family drama is about as interesting as the lint between the cushions. “Mother Couch” draws from several wells. Taking place mostly in this larger-than-expected furniture store, the … Read more
Rex graduated from high school with a full scholarship to college but stayed home when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. After that, she stayed home to support her father (Sam Robards). Somehow, ten years went by. At her college reunion, she begins to wonder what her life might have been like if she had … Read more
Thankfully, these blemishes aren’t so significant as to deflate the movie’s prevailing mood. However, you might leave the theater wishing you cared more about Amrit (Lakshya), a one-man-army commando, and Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), a mostly defenseless woman on whose behalf Amrit creams a few dozen heavies. A rowdy audience and/or loud sound system will likely … Read more