The Mythic West Dies and Rides Again at Hands of Two Atypical Heroes
On Film: Lean on Pete, The Rider
English director Andrew Haigh and Chinese director Chloe Zhao offer eulogies to the American Dream while spurring a new brand of male hero into the Western arena. Though they are barely men, Charley and Brady mark a newfound maturity in the cowboy genre for their ability to cope with loss -- without surrendering a gritty spirit of survival, or a will to love.
Borg vs. McEnroe: Resistance is Futile
Movie Review: Borg vs. McEnroe
“The greatest tennis match of all time” serves as the final destination for Janus Metz’s crafty biopic about polar opposites Björn Borg and John McEnroe, but getting there is half the fun thanks to a sweaty workout from Shia LaBeouf and Sverrir Gudnason.
Isle of Dogs Marks Wes Anderson’s Territory
Movie review: Isle of Dogs
There’s the heavy sigh of melancholy that defines Anderson’s whole oeuvre in this second stop-motion piece of animation, but as it howls at the loss of childhood innocence, it also recreates a little chunk of magic by hand.
A Wrinkle in Time Offers Waking Daydream
Movie review: A Wrinkle in Time
Ava DuVernay’s big-budget Disney adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s teen classic takes an earnest route through fairyland and physics, making for a strangely static ride and a Mardi Gras parade of bejewelled movie stars.
Red Sparrow Flutters, Flaps, Finally Flies
Movie Review: Red Sparrow
Jennifer Lawrence has trouble with a Slavic accent, but she nails the emotional conflict and physicality of a ballet dancer turned sex spy in Francis Lawrence's Cold War thriller that feels like a return to the good old bad days
Death Wish Shoots Blank Point
Movie review: Death Wish
Bruce Willis is left to fend for himself in director Eli Roth's inept reload of the Charles Bronson groundbreaker that gave the Everyman a loaded gun and a will to kill
In the Fade Rubs Out Boundaries of Moral Behaviour
Movie Review: In the Fade
Diane Kruger won best acting honours at Cannes for good reason: her performance as a grieving mother and widow in the wake of a terrorist attack takes us from a noble quest for justice to the cellar of revenge
