Christopher Llewellyn Reed's Blog, page 59
June 16, 2016
Swimming Pays Off: “Finding Dory” Is a Worthy Sequel, If Not As Perfect As Its Predecessor
Finding Dory (Angus MacLane/Andrew Stanton, 2016) Last year, Pixar gave us two new films, both original scripts: Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur. The first was a sublime example of what that company does best, which is to combine drama, comedy, nostalgia and genuine sentiment into a heady mix of powerful emotion where we laugh and […]
June 10, 2016
In “The Conjuring 2,” the Power of Christ Doesn’t Quite Compel Us
The Conjuring 2 (James Wan, 2016) Three years ago, Australian director James Wan (Saw) served up The Conjuring, a somewhat tasty – if also deeply silly – morsel of haunted horrordom, starring Patrick Wilson (Fargo, Season 2), Vera Farmiga (At Middleton) and Lili Taylor (The Cold Lands). On a reported budget of only $20 million, it went on to make […]
June 3, 2016
Dan Rodricks’ Roughly Speaking Podcast on the Films of Spring and Summer 2016
Today, Linda DeLibero – Director, Film and Media Studies, Johns Hopkins University – and Christopher Llewellyn Reed (that’s me) – Chair and Professor, Department of Film & Moving Image, Stevenson University – joined Dan Rodricks on his Baltimore Sun podcast, “Roughly Speaking,” where we discussed the films out in theaters in May and June of this year, with clips from the following six movies: A Bigger […]
Interview with Local Filmmaker Dina Fiasconaro on Bmoreart
Earlier this week, my interview with local filmmaker (and my Stevenson colleague) Dina Fiasconaro, about her movie Moms & Meds, go up on Bmoreart. Here is the link. Enjoy!
4 Film Reviews on Hammer to Nail: “Holy Hell,” “The Ones Below,” “The Other Side” and “Weiner”
Over the past two weeks, on top of my remaining coverage of the 2106 Maryland Film Festival, I have written reviews for 4 films currently out in some kind of distribution, all published on Hammer to Nail. Check them out: Holy Hell The Ones Below The Other Side Weiner
Post-2016 Maryland Film Festival Coverage, Part 3 (of 3), for Hammer to Nail
My final two pieces from the recent 2016 Maryland Film Festival went up on Hammer to Nail this week. Interview with co-directors Livia Ungur & Sherng-Lee Huang (Hotel Dallas) Interview with director Michael Faulkner (SHU-DE!) Check out my first and second posts from the festival, as well. Enjoy!
“Me Before You” – Better Luck Next Cry
Me Before You (Thea Sharrock, 2016) Thirtysomething Will Traynor has everything going for him: he’s handsome, athletic, insanely rich and gives off that healthy glow that only the best skin products and organic foods can provide. As played by Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games series), he may be a little too prone […]
May 27, 2016
Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster” Offers an Intriguing Parable on Love and Dating
The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2015) The Lobster is Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’s fifth theatrical feature. Prior to this, perhaps his best known work was his third film, Dogtooth, in 2009, which won the “Un Certain Regard” prize – an award given to bold, visionary work – at the Cannes Film Festival that year. This new […]
May 26, 2016
Post-2016 Maryland Film Festival Coverage, Part 2, for Hammer to Nail
I still have some movie reviews and filmmaker interviews from the recent 2016 Maryland Film Festival popping up on Hammer to Nail. Here’s what’s been published since my last MFF post: Review of Hotel Dallas Interview with director Kris Avedisian (Donald Cried) Interview with director William Kirkley (Orange Sunshine) Interview with director Mike Plunkett (Salero) Still pending are my interviews with director Michael Faulkner […]
Destructo Mundo, Magneto! “X-Men: Apocalypse” Does That End-of-the-World Marvel Thing.
X-Men: Apocalypse (Bryan Singer, 2016) As the film begins, we hear a familiar, English-accented voice (James McAvoy, aka the younger version of Charles Xavier/Professor X) intone the history of mutants on our planet. Is it possible, after 8 previous movies featuring various members of the X-Men universe, that we still have more to learn about […]
