Trolls
SimilarAladdin (1992), Billy Elliot (2000), Bugsy Malone (1976), Chicago (2002), Dances with Wolves (1990), Dirty Dancing (1987), Enchanted (2007), Fantasia (1940), Forrest Gump (1994), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Ice Age (2002), Italian for Beginners (2000), Mary Poppins (1964), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Muriel's Wedding (1994), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Princess Mononoke (1997), Shall We Dance? (2004), Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Stranger Than Paradise (1984), The Terminal (2004), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971),
Studio20th Century Fox,
The Trolls movies continue to indulge in their best and worst impulses in a third installment.
The poster for this past summer's R-rated comedy No Hard Feelings had a reasonably clever tagline to explain the strained dynamic between the film's two leads. Against an image of Jennifer Lawrence squeezing Andrew Barth Feldman's cheeks, a single word is placed on top of each person's face: "Pretty" and "Awkward." Nothing revolutionary in design, but it gets the job done. Best of all, that tagline also makes for an apt descriptor for Trolls Band Together.
The third entry in the Trolls trilogy (based on the popular 80s dolls), Trolls Band Together does indeed live up to the phrase “Pretty. Awkward.” The animators at DreamWorks keep coming up with gorgeous-looking environments for the titular critters to inhabit that look like they emerged from the wreckage of a craft store explosion. Unfortunately, the writing remains as stilted as ever. Continue Reading →
May December
SimilarAli: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Anna and the King (1999), Billy Elliot (2000), Brazil (1985), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Buffalo Soldiers (2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Fargo (1996), M*A*S*H (1970), Mars Attacks! (1996), Monster (2003), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Mystic River (2003), Oldboy (2003), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Stalker (1979), Talk to Her (2002), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), The Road (2009), The Tin Drum (1979), Volver (2006), Wonder Boys (2000),
Watch afterAmerican Fiction (2023), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), Leave the World Behind (2023), Napoleon (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Poor Things (2023), Saltburn (2023), Thanksgiving (2023),
In such films as Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Velvet Goldmine and I’m Not There, filmmaker Todd Haynes has taken the stories of famous people and utilized what we know—or think we know—about them to explore ideas about celebrity and our all-consuming need to render their often-complex stories into straightforward narratives. That strange compulsion to explain, understand, and commodify the lives of real people is at the heart of his latest work, May December, and it certainly seems to have sparked something in him because the end result is the strongest work that he has done in quite some time. Continue Reading →