Sep 15 2017

Mother!

A woman (Jennifer Lawrence) working to rebuild the house and home of her husband (Javier Bardem), a writer and poet stricken with writer’s block, try’s her best to inspire creativity in the face of a series of unexpected events and distractions, but just how much of herself will she have to give? Written and Directed by Darren Aronofsky this multilayered narrative is as much about how couples relate to each other as it is about religion, social hysteria, humanity, anxiety, and love to top things off. That is to say, this is not a check your brain at the door type film, this is a film that will cause you to question your own behavior and force you to think, leaving you unnerved and reflective. Key to the whole experience is Jennifer Lawrence in perhaps her most demanding and grueling performance to date, as well as a brutally irksome appearance from Michelle Pfeiffer; meanwhile, work from Bardem and Ed Harris serves nicely to cap things off and sell the drama one tick louder. One to be discussed by scholars and cinephiles alike this is a work of art that qualifies as modern philosophy and is not to be taken lightly. Mother! is rated R.


Sep 15 2017

American Assassin

Scorned by the murder of his fiancé, Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien), self trained bad ass, sets out on a course to infiltrate muslim extremist terror cells and exact his revenge. But, before gets too carried away, the CIA and Uncle Sam catch on to his plans. Approving of his behaviors, the CIA sends Mitch to Orion training, a group of similar bad asses all secretly training to go on convert bad ass missions for the U.S. Government. Led by hardened father of bad assery, Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), the group sets out to stop a nefarious plot to blow up the world with a stolen nuclear bomb, will success be theirs or will victory be stolen away by the jaws of defeat?Directed by Michael Cuesta and based on the novel by Vince Flynn, this pulpy hybrid of every spy thriller/spec ops/gun slinging government/military whiz bang film ever created starts out with little promise and unfortunately gets bogged down further as an unimaginative procedural, going through the motions leaving the audience malnourished for cinematic sustenance. Easily forgettable, except for one pivotal torture scene, you can afford to wait for this one on basic cable. American Assassin is rated R.


Sep 15 2017

Rebel in the Rye

Often discussed in literary classes at great length, J.D. Salinger (Nicholas Hoult) is still thought of as one of America’s great authors of the 20th century. But where did the reclusive artist come from, what and who were his driving influences, and, what was it that drove him to seclusion, this is his story.Directed and Co-written by Danny Strong, this biopic tale of an artist honing his craft works as a simple introduction to some of the inner workings of Salinger without going terribly in depth about his thought process or what really shaped him into the story crafter he was; unfortunate for those looking for the deeper dive, still informative for the new comer. Decent enough performances from Hoult and Kevin Spacey as Salinger’s teacher and mentor Whit Burnett the film doesn’t exactly make missteps, but also doesn’t wow the socks off the viewer either. Maybe consider this as a rental later for that re-fresher to your American lit class? Rebel in the Rye is rated PG-13.