Nov 6, 2020 · starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Michael Keaton. screenplay by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren. directed by Tim Burton. by Bill Chambers Although Walter Chaw and Alex Jackson already covered The Goonies and Beetlejuice (hereafter Beetle Juice ), respectively, for our humble little website, I feel obliged to say something ... Air (2023) */****. starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis. written by Alex Convery. directed by Ben Affleck. by Walter Chaw The irony of a film celebrating the taking of chances being so absolutely afraid to take any chances is so conspicuous it feels a little like bullying to point it out, but here goes: Ben Affleck's Air ...Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) ****/****. starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams. screenplay by Chris Terrio. directed by Zack Snyder. by Walter Chaw It opens with soundwaves visualized as ripples in the air--Superman's (Henry Cavill) death cry touching every part of a blasted world as the protection and decency he ...Burt Weston AKA The Film Freak is a serial-killer enemy of Batman. Obsessed with films, Weston's modus operandi is to recreate famous movie deaths in his killings. Burt Weston …NO HARD FEELINGS. ***½/****. starring Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick. written by Gene Stupnitsky & John Phillips. directed by Gene Stupnitsky. by Walter Chaw Nicole Holofcener's You Hurt My Feelings belongs, alongside stuff like Tamara Jenkins's Private Life and Lynn Shelton's Sword of …The Film Freak Central Blog (2005-2012) Loose Frames (tumblr.) Streaming December 18, 2023. Afire (2023) ***½/**** starring Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs written and directed by Christian Petzold.Film Freak Central is a website dedicated to film criticism, analysis and commentary. Read reviews of the latest releases, interviews with filmmakers, news and features on various …Feb 28, 2022 · The Batman (2022) **/****. starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell. written by Matt Reeves & Peter Craig. directed by Matt Reeves. by Walter Chaw I love Matt Reeves. I think Cloverfield is exceptional, that I underestimated Let Me In upon its initial release, and that, for as popular as it was, the Planet of the Apes ... Feb 28, 2022 · The Batman (2022) **/****. starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell. written by Matt Reeves & Peter Craig. directed by Matt Reeves. by Walter Chaw I love Matt Reeves. I think Cloverfield is exceptional, that I underestimated Let Me In upon its initial release, and that, for as popular as it was, the Planet of the Apes ... Telluride '21: The Lost Daughter. ****/****. starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley. screenplay by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Elena Ferrante. directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. by Walter Chaw Leda (Jessie Buckley) is brilliant. She's translating Auden into Italian and, more than just translating, …Uncut Gems matches the frantic intensity of Sandler's performance with Daniel Lopatin's driving, experimental score and a restless camera wielded by veteran cinematographer Darius Khondji that acts a little like how a panic attack feels. Viewed a certain way (as a jeweller does a gem, say), the film works as a harsh depiction of how …starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis. screenplay by Akela Cooper. directed by Gerard Johnstone. by Walter Chaw That the Internet works the way it does and evolved as quickly as it did likely had everything to do with it being the finest distributor of pornography the world had ever seen.A book of film reviews by critics from FilmFreakCentral.net, published in 2005. It includes an essay on Matthew Barney's The Cremaster Cycle and a foreword by E. Elias Merhige.When Evil Lurks (2023) Cuando acecha la maldad. ****/****. starring Ezequiel Rodríguez, Demián Salomón, Luis Ziembrowski, Federico Liss. written and directed by Demián Rugna. by Walter Chaw I felt like there was a hand pressing down on my chest during Demián Rugna's When Evil Lurks, a horror film so vicious and uncompromising I …Mar 19, 2021 · Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) ****/****. starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams. screenplay by Chris Terrio. directed by Zack Snyder. by Walter Chaw It opens with soundwaves visualized as ripples in the air--Superman's (Henry Cavill) death cry touching every part of a blasted world as the protection and decency he ... REGION. 1. DISC TYPE. 2 DVD-9s. STUDIO. Fox. That mythology is reborn here as the story of Rogue (Anna Paquin), a teenaged belle who skips town after a first kiss leaves her boyfriend literally breathless, only to find herself a travelling companion to Logan (smouldering star-on-the-rise Hugh Jackman), an underground boxer with adamantium ...Mar 13, 2019 · starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze. written by Jeff Pinkner & Scott Rosenberg and Kelly Marcel. directed by Ruben Fleischer. by Bryant Frazer The history of Venom, a rippled black mass of sentient alien muscle with a 'roided-out appearance and a gnarly personality to match, is complicated even for a comic-book origin ... THE BLU-RAY DISCby Bill Chambers Now making its Blu-ray debut, the 2-Disc Director's Cut of Zodiac, which contains nearly three hours of video-based extras, is, believe it or not, a model of restraint for tag-team obsessive Davids Fincher and Prior, last seen gazing into their navels on a 3-disc set of Panic Room.The Little Mermaid (2023) */****. starring Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Melissa McCarthy. screenplay by David Magee. directed by Rob Marshall. by Walter Chaw I have long, disquieting thoughts about Ursula the Sea Witch's anatomy in the live-action version of Disney's The Little Mermaid. As I understand it, with octopi, the ...“Freaking,” according to Dictionary.com, is an adverb or adjective form of freak that is used to emphasize a point. In this regard, it is not a bad word, but profanity is often con...Mr. Intense: FFC Interviews James Foley. April 27, 2003|Discovered at a student party by director Hal Ashby, one of the more tragic figures of the American New Wave of the '70s, James Foley is at his best when detailing the brash social textures of the United States and the intricacies of male relationships (and, by extension, male ...The Northman (2022) **½/****. starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Willem Dafoe. written by Sjón & Robert Eggers. directed by Robert Eggers. by Walter Chaw That Robert Eggers's latest film proves visually stunning is more expectation than revelation at this point. That it beggars traditional narrative tropes is also no ...Sep 18, 2021 · Telluride '21: The Lost Daughter. ****/****. starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley. screenplay by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Elena Ferrante. directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. by Walter Chaw Leda (Jessie Buckley) is brilliant. She's translating Auden into Italian and, more than just translating, she's ... Film Freak Central. Home. Home ~Master Review Index~ Interview Index; The Film Freak Central Blog (2005-2012) Loose Frames (tumblr.) Sci-Fi January 30, 2024. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) - 4K Ultra HD + Digital Code. Note: all framegrabs were sourced from the 4K UHD disc**½/**** starring Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Lewis MacDougall, Liam Neeson screenplay by Patrick Ness, based on his novel directed by J.A. Bayona by Walter Chaw Tears are easy when the subject is the loss of a loved one. They come even when you don't particularly like the vehicle that inspires them. In the case of J.A. Bayona's A Monster …Nov 3, 2023 · Note: all framegrabs were sourced from the 4K UHD disc ****/**** Image A Sound A+ Extras B starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny written by Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen directed by Christopher McQuarrie by Walter Chaw I've liked every film in this series to some extent, the last few very much. Yet, pressed, I couldn't tell you what any of them are about. If ... Watching movies online is a great way to enjoy your favorite films without having to leave the comfort of your own home. With so many streaming services available, it can be diffic...FILM FREAK CENTRAL turns 24 this month and I became curious what our 24 most-read reviews might be. Unfortunately, we didn't sign up for Analytics until 2014, and any record of our traffic before then has evaporated from the Internet. So, uh, here's a countdown of our 24 most-read reviews since, um, 2014. Few surprises on here (longtime ...starring Lisa Yang, Chang Chen, Chang Kuo-Chu, Elaine Jin. script and dialogue by Edward Yang, Yan Hong-Ya, Alex Yang, Lai Ming-Tang. directed by Edward Yang. by Walter Chaw My family fled mainland China to Taiwan in 1949, just ahead of the communist takeover.NO HARD FEELINGS. ***½/****. starring Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick. written by Gene Stupnitsky & John Phillips. directed by Gene Stupnitsky. by Walter Chaw Nicole Holofcener's You Hurt My Feelings belongs, alongside stuff like Tamara Jenkins's Private Life and Lynn Shelton's Sword of …Nov 3, 2023 · Note: all framegrabs were sourced from the 4K UHD disc ****/**** Image A Sound A+ Extras B starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny written by Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen directed by Christopher McQuarrie by Walter Chaw I've liked every film in this series to some extent, the last few very much. Yet, pressed, I couldn't tell you what any of them are about. If ... Jan 11, 2022 · The miracle of our otherwise meaningless existence is when, through your agency, you somehow get the worm to notice you. And then it's over and you're gone, a pebble in a well of limitless time. That's what Dune is about. Fuck, it's good. Originally published: September 21, 2022. THE 4K UHD DISC. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS */**** starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz screenplay by Joss Whedon & Drew Goddard directed by Drew Goddard LOCKOUT **/**** starring Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Peter Stormare screenplay by Stephen Saint Leger, James Mather & Luc …screenplay by Ryoo Seung-wan, Kim Jeong-yeon. directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. by Bill Chambers Jason Yu's Sleep had me at hello. Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) and Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun) are a young couple expecting their first child. One night, out of the blue, Hyun-Su starts talking in his sleep. "Someone's inside," he says.Oct 9, 2023 · Priscilla (2023) ***½/****. starring Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Dominiczyk. based on the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley with Sandra Harmon. written and directed by Sofia Coppola. by Walter Chaw Sofia Coppola takes a lot of heat for making movies about what she knows. This strikes me as peculiar, because I don't really have ... Are you looking for a great way to stay up to date on the latest movies? Going to the theater is one of the best ways to watch new releases and get an immersive experience. But wit...Originally published: March 29, 2021. THE 4K UHD DISC. by Bill Chambers Warner shepherds Godzilla vs. Kong to 4K UHD disc after a brief theatrical/HBO Max window. The 2.39:1, 2160p transfer is among the most flamboyant I've seen of a contemporary title with regards to its use of HDR (Dolby Vision and HDR10+) and …Jan 15, 2022 · Scream (2022) ***½/****. starring Melissa Berrera, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Neve Campbell. written by James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick. directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. by Walter Chaw Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven's Scream cycle, in terms of its influence on modern film, constitutes the most important metatext of the last ... There's a double sunrise set to a familiar John Williams motif. When Rey first wields Anakin's lightsaber, her gorgeous theme rises up like the lump in my throat. The Last Jedi feels like something entirely new: a shot across the bow in the form of a message of peace and acceptance. A leap of faith.Since FILM FREAK CENTRAL is technically a Canadian website, based in southern Ontario, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about the 27 th annual Port Hope Vintage Film Festival. Running from September 27-29, it's a rare opportunity to see classic films--such as Top Hat, ...TIFF '21: Flee. **½/****. directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. by Angelo Muredda The past is as fluid as the rotoscoped animation used to bring it to life in Jonas Poher Rasmussen's Flee, a high-concept work of creative nonfiction whose unconventional style promises an immersiveness it can't really deliver. Apr 26, 2003 · Mr. Intense: FFC Interviews James Foley. April 27, 2003|Discovered at a student party by director Hal Ashby, one of the more tragic figures of the American New Wave of the '70s, James Foley is at his best when detailing the brash social textures of the United States and the intricacies of male relationships (and, by extension, male ... THE 4K UHD DISC Any modern transfer of Ghost in the Shell is going to present a challenge. The very circumstances of the film's making--all of the elements were digitized and assembled in computers before being written out to 35mm celluloid on a film recorder at whatever level of quality was possible in the mid-1990s--limit the clarity of the …****/**** Image A Sound A Extras A- story adaptation Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Richard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank, Webb Smith supervising director David Hand by Bill Chambers Walt Disney was shooting for the moon with 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, not just his first but the first …Super Troopers (2002) ½/****. starring Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter. screenplay by Broken Lizard. directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. by Walter Chaw From the self-satisfied pens of LA/NY sketch comedy troupe "Broken Lizard" springs Super Troopers, fully formed like some Plutonian messenger from midnight-movie hell.starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg. written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer. directed by Zack Snyder. by Walter Chaw This is what I know: that the first time I saw Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale, a friend had to acquire it from some disreputable dealer and send it to me, unmarked, in a brown box.Mr. Intense: FFC Interviews James Foley. April 27, 2003|Discovered at a student party by director Hal Ashby, one of the more tragic figures of the American New Wave of the '70s, James Foley is at his best when detailing the brash social textures of the United States and the intricacies of male relationships (and, by extension, male ...TIFF '21: Flee. by Angelo Muredda The past is as fluid as the rotoscoped animation used to bring it to life in Jonas Poher Rasmussen's Flee, a high-concept work of creative nonfiction whose unconventional style promises an immersiveness it can't really deliver. Rasmussen's animated documentary profile of his childhood friend, pseudonymously ...Dec 3, 2022 · The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) ****/****. starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kelly, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan. written and directed by Martin McDonagh. by Walter Chaw I lost a friend this year. Not to death but to no longer having anything of value to offer him, what with time getting short. Walter Chaw interviews Renny Harlin, director of THE BRICKLAYER Renny Harlin is older now. Wiser. He almost made an Alien movie, was thisclose to taking the reins of the James Bond franchise, caught the biggest comedian on the planet in the last ten minutes before his precipitous fall... Harlin was a minute ahead of his time and …Perfect Days (2023) ****/****. starring Kôji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Tomokazu Miura. written by Wim Wenders, Takuma Takasaki. directed by Wim Wenders. by Walter Chaw Hirayama (Kôji Yakusho) notices little things. Like the sunlight dappling the trees. Or the doomed sproutling, too close to its mother to survive, pushing its way out ... Film Freak Central. Tomatometer-approved publication. ... Even the fact that the film itself is a technical marvel, sleek perfection from start to finish, is part of the gag.Jul 12, 2022 · Originally published: March 6, 2019. THE 4K UHD DISC. by Bill Chambers Arrow has reissued their deluxe Blu-ray of Twelve Monkeys on 4K UHD disc with identical bonus features but a new 2160p transfer of the film complete with 12-bit (Dolby Vision) and 10-bit (HDR10) HDR encoding. The piercing green text that teletypes itself onto the screen ... In 1997, he started Film Freak Central, which was recognized by the Broadcast Film Critics Association as one of the Internet’s finest movie sites in 2009. Bill has edited and published five books under Film Freak …Jan 2, 2024 · Wim Wenders's Perfect Days is about the grace of being okay when you're not okay--about living out your days for the little things in defiance of the dismal tide. Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest is that dismal tide. 2023 was a marvellous year for the movies and an awful one for the human race. Priscilla (2023) ***½/****. starring Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Dominiczyk. based on the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley with Sandra Harmon. written and directed by Sofia Coppola. by Walter Chaw Sofia Coppola takes a lot of heat for making movies about what she knows. This strikes me as peculiar, because I don't really …Feb 10, 2016 · ****/**** Image A Sound A Extras A- story adaptation Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Richard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank, Webb Smith supervising director David Hand by Bill Chambers Walt Disney was shooting for the moon with 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, not just his first but the first animated feature. He of the Silly Symphony wanted it to have ... Somebody I Used to Know (2023) ZERO STARS/****. starring Alison Brie, Jay Ellis, Kiersey Clemons, Julie Hagerty. written by Dave Franco & Alison Brie. directed by Dave Franco. by Walter Chaw My Best Friend's Wedding is vile, happy-go-fucky bullshit that polishes the sociopathic behaviour of a solipsistic narcissist to a patently plastic Julia ...starring Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom. screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on the novel by Stephen King. directed by David Cronenberg. by Walter Chaw Michael Kamen's score for The Dead Zone sounds so much like Howard Shore's work that if I didn't know better... A blog post by Walter Chaw that reviews various films from December 2023, covering topics such as German cinema, horror, comedy, and drama. The post includes ratings, summaries, and personal opinions of the films, as well as some historical and cultural references. Dec 13, 2022 · starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet. screenplay by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver. directed by James Cameron. by Walter Chaw The discourse leading up to James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water (hereafter Avatar 2) has been largely about how although the first Avatar is the second-highest-grossing ... starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell. written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach. directed by Greta Gerwig. by Walter Chaw Margot Robbie is so good in good movies--and she's also in Greta Gerwig's smug, self-congratulatory, painfully obvious, subtext-free screed Barbie, playing Mattel's signature doll-for-girls ...Wen is on vacation with her dads, aggro Andrew (Ben Aldrige) and over-thinker Eric (Jonathan Groff), at a remote cabin at the end of the world, and Leonard is soon joined by the other three horsemen of the apocalypse: Redmond (Rupert Grint), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), and Abby (Abby Quinn). Do you remember when the yellow Power …Film critic Walter Chaw ranks his favourite movies of 2022, from Halloween Ends to Aftersun, with personal reflections and insights. See his list, honourable …screenplay by Ryoo Seung-wan, Kim Jeong-yeon. directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. by Bill Chambers Jason Yu's Sleep had me at hello. Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) and Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun) are a young couple expecting their first child. One night, out of the blue, Hyun-Su starts talking in his sleep. "Someone's inside," he says.THE 4K UHD DISC The King's Man docks on 4K UHD disc in a 2.39:1, 2160p transfer with HDR10 encoding. I struggled to find fault with the image, which liberally utilizes HDR but also knows when to dial it back. Take the scene where Polly surprises Conrad with a birthday cake, the candles evoking heat and flickering brightly enough to be a …Life (2017) - Blu-ray + Digital. **½/**** Image A- Sound A Extras C+. starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada. written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick. directed by Daniel Espinosa. by Bryant Frazer If you're going to steal, they say, steal from the best. It almost works out for Life, which borrows the ...starring Elena Kampouris, Kate Moyer, Callan Mulvey, Bruce Spence. based upon the short story by Stephen King. written and directed by Kurt Wimmer. by Walter Chaw Kurt Wimmer's Children of the Corn prequel/reboot is drab, uninspired, witless I.P.-sploitation.starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer. written and directed by Rian Johnson. by Bryant Frazer Knives Out, a cleverly plotted and star-studded whodunit, is both comfortingly familiar and surprisingly novel--a loving homage to classic English drawing-room mysteries that celebrates its sources while updating their ...click any image to enlarge ***/**** Image A Sound A+ Extras C+ starring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter screenplay by Justin Haythe and Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio directed by Gore Verbinski by Walter Chaw What Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger has going for it, in addition to a genuinely ugly streak …Burt Weston AKA The Film Freak is a serial-killer enemy of Batman. Obsessed with films, Weston's modus operandi is to recreate famous movie deaths in his killings. Burt Weston …starring Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg. screenplay by David Kajganich, based on the novel by Camille DeAngelis. directed by Luca Guadagnino. by Walter Chaw Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All is every single thing I like packed into one film: a swooning gothic romance; a gory and …starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall. written by Scott Teems & Danny McBride & David Gordon Green. directed by David Gordon Green. by Bill Chambers Depending on your perspective, Halloween Kills, David Gordon Green's follow-up to his 2018 Halloween, is the third Halloween II, or the second …There's a double sunrise set to a familiar John Williams motif. When Rey first wields Anakin's lightsaber, her gorgeous theme rises up like the lump in my throat. The Last Jedi feels like something entirely new: a shot across the bow in the form of a message of peace and acceptance. A leap of faith.. For ’90s kids, it may come as a shock to learn that Pokémostarring Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Luke Bracey, Olivia DeJonge screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and Michael Gilio. directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley. CHAMPIONS. **½/****. starring Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin. screenplay by Mark Rizzo, based on the Spanish film Campeones written by David Marqués & Javier Fesser. ****/**** Image B+ Sound B Extras B+ starring Dustin Hoffman, Aug 17, 2000 · Film Freak Central - 25 Candles: Film Freak Central Turns the Quarter-Century Mark. « Top Gun: Maverick (2022) | Main | Mad God: An Interview with Phil Tippett ». Priscilla (2023) ***½/****. starring Cailee Spaeny, Jacob...
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