THE FIRST PURGE (Dir. by Gerard McMurray, 97 minutes, USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC The Purge series has had an interesting trajectory throughout the last five years. While the first film was an interesting high concept meditation on race in a near dystopian future where one night of the year for 12 hours, any crime including murder is legal. The consistently profitable franchise now on its fourth outing has afforded writer James DeMonaco the ability to not so subtly comment the state of America. For example, the last film Election Year featured a blatant stand in for […]
CINEMA: There Will Be Blood
SICARIO 2 (Directed by Stefano Sollima, 122 minutes, 2018, USA) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Sicario, Denis Villeneuve’s mesmerizing 2015 Academy Award-nominated meditation on the US government’s invisible war with the Mexican drug cartels, isn’t the kind of film that leaps to mind when you think franchises. But the original story of one FBI agent’s descent into the Hell of south-of-the-border gangland drug warfare was populated with such uncommonly rich and dense characters — courtesy of screenwriter Taylor Sheridan’s boffo script — that audiences simply demanded more. Directed by Stefano Sollima (Suburra), Sicario: Day Of The Soldado traffics in […]
CINEMA: Dinosaur Jr.
JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom (Dir. by J.A. Bayona, 128 min., USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for what is now the second entry in the reboot/retcon of the Jurassic Park series Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom. Picking up three years after the fateful events on Isla Nublar, the film begins as the volcano on the island that once housed the dino theme park is about to erupt annihilating all life on the island. On the world stage, the US Senate is deliberating on whether or not they will intervene to save the island’s […]
CINEMA: All In The Family
HEREDITARY (Directed by Ari Aster, 127 minutes, USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Hereditary is the feature length directorial debut from Ari Aster who made a name for himself with a disturbing viral short about a family harboring a dark secret called The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011). It is also arguably the best horror in the last five years. Hereditary premiered at Sundance in January, and quickly became the film to see this year for horror fans when the buzz surround it hit a fever pitch with some calling it the scariest horror movie in years. […]
CINEMA: A Confederacy Of Dunces
EDITOR’S NOTE: Warren Lipka was a Phawker intern in 2015. BY DAVID EDELSTEIN FRESH AIR FILM CRITIC The heist movie American Animals opens with a cutesy title. This is not based on a true story. Then the words not based on disappear, leaving — this is a true story. I doubt any fiction writer could have dreamed up a heist so dumb, stealing the original of Audubon’s multivolume “Birds Of America” from the library of Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. The movie is funny in spots, but it’s not a comedy. The British writer-director Bart Layton has set out to […]
CINEMA: The Terminator
Upgrade is a high concept, low budget techno thriller written and directed by Australian filmmaker Leigh Whannell, who is probably best known for his writing credits on the Saw and Insidious franchises. After making his directorial debut with the solid supernatural sequel Insidious: Chapter 3, Whannel is now tackling an original script that vibes like a William Gibson-penned ‘80s action film. The film stars Logan Marshall-Green, doing his best Tom Hardy impersonation as noted technophone Grey Trace who, during the course of a violent robbery that takes the life of his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo), is rendered a quadriplegic. […]
CINEMA: When Han Went Solo
SOLO: A Star Wars Story (Directed by Ron Howard, 135 minutes, USA, 2018) BY JON SOLOMON & MAGGIE SOLOMON-SCHELLER It was 1978. Maybe 1979. I was sitting in my chair at Johnson Park Elementary School looking at my full name written on a piece of paper. Suddenly, I gasped quietly. ??Born Jonathan Solomon, and fully immersed in the orbit of Star Wars for at least a year by this point, I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t noticed it sooner.?? I put a finger on my left hand over all but the last three letters of my first name. ??I put […]
Every Star Wars Movie Ranked Worst To Best
IN LEIA WE TRUST: Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart BY JON SOLOMON JEDI CORRESPONDENT Always in motion is the future. So too, to a lesser extent, are my rankings of the Star Wars films. They seemingly fluctuate slightly based on mood, time elapsed since last viewing or what my daughter wants to watch when home sick from school. As of press time, having yet to see the soon-to-be-released Solo: A Star Wars Story (SEE ABOVE), I’d go with the following, adding two caveats: There is a steep, precarious drop in quality between the bottom three films and the top six films. […]
CINEMA: The Grateful Dead
DEADPOOL 2 (Directed by David Leitch, 119 minutes, USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Ryan Reynolds returns as everyone’s favorite Merc with a mouth in Deadpool 2, one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the summer. The first installment of turned the superhero genre on its head with its hard-R, low budget take on the fan favorite character that was known for not only his miraculous regenerative abilities, but his penchant for breaking the fourth wall, providing a bizarre meta-commentary on the comic book world. With original director Tim Miller walking away from the sequel due to “creative differences,” […]
INCOMING: Bohemian Rhapsody
A Queen biopic with Mr. Robot‘s Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury? We are so there. Opens November 2nd. BILLBOARD: After a 10-second teaser trailer dropped on Monday (May 14), briefly revealing star Rami Malek in his Mercury get up, the full trailer proved that the Mr. Robot actor was the only choice that made sense. Malek has already earned praise for his uncanny resemblance to Mercury, and the blitz of scenes in which he inhabits the flamboyant rock star in a variety of colorful outfits and through multiple hair eras is evidence that the wait was worth it. The trailer […]
CHILDISH GAMBINO: This Is America
This is America Don’t catch you slippin up Look at how I’m livin now Police be trippin now Yeah, This Is America Guns in my area I got the strap I gotta carry’ em #ChildishGambino #DonaldGlover RELATED: Five Things To Know About “This Is America” Video RELATED: Interview With Director Hiro Murai THE NEW YORKER: The Glovers were Jehovah’s Witnesses. They believed that Satan controls life on earth, that only a hundred and forty-four thousand anointed Christians will be saved to Heaven with Jesus, and that we are living out the last days before Armageddon. Stephen Glover said, “We were […]
CINEMA: The End Of The World As We Know It
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (Dir. by Anthony & Joe Russo, 149 min., USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC More than a decade in the making, Avengers: Infinity War is Marvel Studios most ambitious story to date, bringing together the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to take on its greatest threat, the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin), in an apocalyptic fight to the finish. First glimpsed in the post-credit stinger at the end of the first Avengers film and remaining just outside the periphery of our heroes over the course of Phase 2 and Phase 3, the coming of Thanos promises […]
CINEMA: Guided By Voices
AARDVARK (Directed by Brian Shoaf, 89 minutes, 2018, USA) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Aardvark is the feature length debut of writer/director Brian Shoaf, and features an intriguing ensemble cast starring Zachary Quinto, Jenny Slate, Jon Hamm and Sheila Vand. Ostensibly, Aardvark is a “thriller” that tackles one man’s struggle with mental illness and the ghosts that haunt him. Aardvark splits its narrative between Josh (Quinto), a troubled young schizophrenic trying to get his life on the right track, and Emily (Jenny Slate), his licensed clinical social worker. As the film begins Josh has a new job, is back on […]