Movie Review: CIVIL WAR

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 04/12/2024
CIVIL WAR movie poster | ©2024 A24

Rating: R Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Maura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Nick Offerman, Jesse Plemons Writer: Alex Garland Director: Alex Garland Distributor: A24 Release Date: April 12, 2024 Writer/director Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR depicts a second intra-state conflict within the U.S., but it comes at present-day politics from an oblique angle. Take away the familiar scenery and a couple of musings by the characters, and this tale of combat photojournalists could be set pretty much anywhere that heavily armed people are fighting with one another. At the White House, the U.S. President (Nick Offerman) is […]Read On »


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Movie Review: ANTLERS

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 10/29/2021
ANTLERS movie poster | ©2021 Fox Searchlight

Rating: R Stars: Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Amy Madigan, Sawyer Jones Writers: Henry Chaisson & Nick Antosca and Scott Cooper, based on the short story “The Quiet Boy” by Nick Antosca Director: Scott Cooper Distributor: Fox Searchlight Release Date: October 29, 2021 ANTLERS has a great monster design. It also creates a good analogy between the text of its horror premise and the subtext of a real-world version. It also has loads of creepiness and atmosphere, courtesy of Scott Cooper’s direction. However, thematically speaking, ANTLERS winds up biting off more than it can […]Read On »


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Movie Review: JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 02/12/2021
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH movie poster | ©2020 Warner Bros.

Rating: R Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Darnnell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rel Howery, Dominique Thorne, Martin Sheen, Robert Longstreet Writers: Will Berson & Shaka King, story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas Director: Shaka King Distributor: Warner Bros. Release Date: February 12, 2021 JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH concerns two real-life figures, 1960s Black activist Fred Hampton, and FBI informant William O’Neal. We’re in 1968 Chicago, with periodic interview sequences set later, in 1989. As depicted here (and as discernable in the historical record), Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) […]Read On »


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Movie Review: VICE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/24/2018
VICE movie poster | ©2018 Annapurna Pictures

Rating: R Stars: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Jesse Plemons, Alfred Molina, Alison Pill, Lily Rabe Writer: Adam McKay Director: Adam McKay Distributor: Annapurna Release Date: December 25, 2018 VICE is writer/director Adam McKay’s biodrama about former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney. Cheney is played here by Christian Bale, giving a terrific performance in some bravura makeup by Greg Cannom. There’s no arguing with Bale’s work as the quiet, shrewd, manipulative figure, who managed to stay very private even at his most public. The film takes Cheney from a young man in 1963 (about the only point where […]Read On »


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Movie Review: THE POST

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 01/02/2018
THE POST movie poster | ©2017 20th Century Fox

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Matthew Rhys, Bob Odenkirk, Bruce Greenwood, Carrie Coon, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Alison Brie, Jesse Plemons Writers: Liz Hannah and Josh Singer Director: Steven Spielberg Distributor: 20th Century Fox Release Date: December 29, 2017 A 1970s-set drama about a newspaper in Washington, D.C. may not sound like the feel-good movie of the year. However, for those who felt 2017 was the epitome of an absurdist political nightmare, THE POST may bring perfect holiday cheer. While Watergate ultimately got the bigger press – think ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (which this […]Read On »


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Movie Review: AMERICAN MADE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 09/29/2017
AMERICAN MADE movie poster | ©2017 Universal Pictures

Rating: R Stars: Tom Cruise, Domnhall Gleeson, Sarah Wright Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones, Alejandro Edda, Fredy Yate Escobar, Mauricio Mejia Writer: Gary Spinelli Director: Doug Liman Distributor: Universal Release Date: September 29, 2017 AMERICAN MADE feels a little like a fever dream, especially for those who have been watching both the documentary THE VIETNAM WAR and the fact-based drama NARCOS. AMERICAN MADE certainly stands on its own, but it is set temporally between the events covered in those other two projects, and there is a feeling of cause and effect flow from one to the other. Barry Seal, […]Read On »


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Movie Review: THE PROGRAM

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 03/20/2016
THE PROGRAM | © 2016 Momentum Pictures

Rating: R Stars: Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Guillaume Canet, Jesse Plemons, Lee Pace Writer: John Hodge, inspired by the book SEVEN DEADLY SINS by David Walsh Director: Stephen Frears Distributor: Momentum Pictures Release Date (theatrical and VOD): March 18, 2016 THE PROGRAM begins with a lone cyclist on a paved mountain road, clouds billowing to one side of the cliff as he determinedly pushes forward. This is a fitting introduction to seven-time Tour de France winner/disgraced athlete Lance Armstrong, as played here by Ben Foster. For those who weren’t paying much attention at the time, Lance Armstrong survived cancer in […]Read On »


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Movie Review: BLACK MASS

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 09/19/2015
BLACK MASS movie poster | ©2015 Warner Bros.

Rating: R Stars: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Corey Stoll, Julianne Nicholson, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, W. Earl Brown Writers: Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill Director: Scott Cooper Distributor: Warner Bros. Release Date: September 18, 2015 James “Whitey” Bulger was an infamous figure for decades and the story of his rise and fall seems even more likely fodder than most for a cinematic biopic. Not only was Bulger the head of a South Boston mob for decades, but his younger brother became a powerful state […]Read On »


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BATTLESHIP Highlights this week in Blu-ray and DVD Releases

By PETER BROWN 08/28/2012
BATTLESHIP | © 2012 Universal Home Entertainment

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. Movies: BATTLESHIP – Yes, I acknowledge immediately that the whole premise of crafting a movie after a board game is just a disastrous proposition on a whole crapload of levels. Yes, I know that the film got lambasted left, right and center by fans, the Internet, critics and […]Read On »


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Movie Review: BATTLESHIP

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 05/17/2012
BATTLESHIP movie poster | ©2012 Universal Pictures

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Jesse Plemons, Gregory D. Gadson Writers: Erich Hoeber & Jon Hoeber, based on the Hasbro game Director: Peter Berg Distributor: Universal Pictures Release Date: May 18, 2012 There is nothing wrong in basing a movie on a board game or a toy, or even an amusement park ride (for example, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN). For one thing, it’s been done many times before by now, so there’s no reason to attack BATTLESHIP to be the latest in this line. There is something a little startling in BATTLESHIP’s physical […]Read On »


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