Christopher Llewellyn Reed's Blog, page 71
September 25, 2015
In “The Intern,” Nancy Meyers Asks, Once More, What Women Want. The Answer, Yet Again, Is … a Man
The Intern (Nancy Meyers, 2015) Ah, Nancy! For years now (in films like What Women Want, The Holiday and It’s Complicated), you have been writing and directing films that put women front and center – professional women, with impressive credentials! – only to undermine the power of that image with a strange brand of (unintentional?) misogyny. On the surface, your […]
September 18, 2015
“Everest” Thrills with 3D Vistas but Bores with 2D Characters
Everest (Baltasar Kormákur, 2015) Back in 1996, an IMAX crew filmed sequences on and around Mt. Everest for a 44-minute documentary, released in 1998 – entitled Everest – that profiled a successful climbing expedition to the top (and back) of the world’s highest peak. You may have seen that film at the time, as it traveled far and […]
In Uneven but Entertaining “Black Mass,” Johnny Depp’s Makeup Team Deserves the Award
Black Mass (Scott Cooper, 2015) In 2014, documentary director Joe Berlinger (Under African Skies) released a movie about the notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, entitled Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger. I saw it at the Maryland Film Festival that year, and found it to be both a comprehensive look at the […]
September 11, 2015
First Episode of 2015-2016 Season of “Reel Talk with Christopher Llewellyn Reed” Is Now Available
The first episode of the 2015-2016 season of Dragon Digital Media‘s Reel Talk (the fourth season, overall, and the second season of Reel Talk with Christopher Llewellyn Reed) is now available. My guest this time was Denise Kitashima Dutton, otherwise known as Atomic Fan Girl. We reviewed three films of the late summer: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Straight Outta […]
In “The Visit,” Shyamalan Indulges His Inner Brat
The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, 2015) Ask yourself this: if not for The Sixth Sense, would you still care about M. Night Shyamalan? In spite of significant flashes of talent (diminishing with each effort) evident in his four subsequent films – Unbreakable, Signs, The Village and even the atrocious Lady in the Water – nothing the man has done since that third feature of his, […]
September 4, 2015
“Grandma” Needs a Defibrillator
Grandma (Paul Weitz, 2015) How I wanted to like this movie (despite its lackluster trailer). I love Lily Tomlin (most recently seen on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie). Not long ago, she appeared on Public Radio International’s Studio 360 to discuss her long career (born in 1939, she made her initial mark on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In in 1970), and I […]
August 30, 2015
9/4/15: Midday on 70 Years of Pacific-Theater Films of World War II
70 years ago, on September 2, 1945, the Empire of Japan signed the official Instrument of Surrender, ending World War II (the Germans had surrendered on May 7 of that year). Join us on Friday, September 4, 2015, at 1pm, on WYPR 88.1 FM, for the Midday with Dan Rodricks show, when Linda DeLibero – Director, Film and Media Studies, Johns Hopkins University – […]
August 28, 2015
Recycling the Tired Trope of Pixie Mania in “Mistress America”
Mistress America (Noah Baumbach, 2015) Much of Mistress America is all a blur – much like its poster (above) – at least in terms of coherence. Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha) plays Brooke, the future step-sister of our protagonist, Tracy (played by relative newcomer Lola Kirke – sister of “Girls” co-star Jemima Kirke – and most recently of Free […]
August 21, 2015
Sex, Drugs and Female Empowerment in Wonderful “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Marielle Heller, 2015) Be forewarned, O faint of heart, that this movie features inappropriate sex between an adult male and a teenage girl. Even more alarming, that girl craves the sex, and more. Sure, she may be underage, and he may be taking advantage of her, but that doesn’t stop young […]
In “Listen to Me Marlon,” Brando, As Always, Mesmerizes
Listen to Me Marlon (Stevan Riley, 2015) This is not the first documentary about the great American actor Marlon Brando (there have been quite a few, in fact, including the comprehensive made-for-TV Brando in 2007), who died in 2004 at the age of 80, but it’s the first to feature so many words straight from the mouth of the […]
