In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Christopher Nolan builds a thrilling, serious blockbuster for adults

In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Christopher Nolan builds a thrilling, serious blockbuster for adults

The following article was first published by APNEWS (Associated Press)

Christopher Nolan has never been one to take the easy or straightforward route while making a movie.  He shoots on large-format film with large, cumbersome cameras to get the best possible cinematic image. He prefers practical effects over computer-generated ones and real locations over soundstages — even when that means recreating an atomic explosion in the harsh winds of the New Mexico desert in the middle of the night for “Oppenheimer,” out July 21.  Though, despite internet rumors, they did not detonate an actual nuclear weapon…

Virginian-Pilot film critic Mal Vincent lives on through film festival, which starts Monday

Virginian-Pilot film critic Mal Vincent lives on through film festival, which starts Monday

(Reprinted from Virginian-Pilot) For nearly two decades, Mal Vincent stood in front of crowds each summer at Norfolk’s Naro Expanded Cinema just before the lights dimmed and classic films rolled onto the screen. The Virginian-Pilot’s movie critic introduced each movie as part of his film festival, “Mal’s Movies,” in an inimitable and rich Southern accent.

Asteroid City Review: Wes Anderson’s Cosmic Grief Comedy Is One of His Very Best Movies Yet

Asteroid City Review: Wes Anderson’s Cosmic Grief Comedy Is One of His Very Best Movies Yet

The following article was published by IndieWire.com 

What starts as just another immaculate Wes Anderson comedy eventually becomes the most cosmic and radical of them all.

Like any movie by Wes Anderson, “Asteroid City” is the epitome of a Wes Anderson movie. A film about a television program about a play within a play “about infinity and I don’t know what else” (as one character describes it), this delightfully profound desert charmer — by far the director’s best effort since “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” and in some respects the most poignant thing he’s ever made…

Nicole Holofcener Keeps Things Streamlined with ‘You Hurt My Feelings’

Nicole Holofcener Keeps Things Streamlined with ‘You Hurt My Feelings’

The following article was published by IndieWire.com 

“I wish that so many movies were a half hour shorter”
BY JIM HEMPHILL

You Hurt My Feelings” is the latest exquisitely mounted comedy from writer-director Nicole Holofcener, the American cinema’s master of marital unease. The premise is classic Holofcener: A writer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) overhears her husband (Tobias Menzies) saying what he really thinks of her work and reevaluates what she thought she knew about her relationship and, by extension, her own identity.

Judy Blume was banned from the beginning, but says ‘It never stopped me from writing’

…When Blume began writing for pre-teens and teens in the ’70s and ’80s, young readers devoured her novels, which spoke to their hopes and anxieties. Her 1970 book, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., told the story of an 11-year-old girl who worried that all the other girls were getting their periods, developing breasts and starting to wear bras — but she wasn’t. (That book, too, has been banned in various outlets, including, in the 1970s, at the primary school that Blume’s own children attended.)…

Everything Everywhere All at Once – Genre Mix Extraordinaire

Everything Everywhere All at Once – Genre Mix Extraordinaire

There are some interesting back stories behind the surprise smash Everything Everywhere All at Once. It seems that iconic martial arts start Jackie Chan was going to be in the lead role, but the feeling of the directors to pay homage to the strong women in their lives won out, and Michelle Yeoh was casted as the everywoman thrust into a dazzling multiverse of parallel lives.

An Homage to 70s Era B-Movie Making

An Homage to 70s Era B-Movie Making

The following is an open  letter to movie-goers from filmmaker Ti West, the writer, director, editor and producer of X, currently playing at The Naro. In it he discusses his inspiration for and general thoughts about this unusual film. It is reprinted in its entirety from distributor A24’s website. For more about Ti West’s background, see his Wikipedia entry here.

In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Christopher Nolan builds a thrilling, serious blockbuster for adults

In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Christopher Nolan builds a thrilling, serious blockbuster for adults

The following article was first published by APNEWS (Associated Press)

Christopher Nolan has never been one to take the easy or straightforward route while making a movie.  He shoots on large-format film with large, cumbersome cameras to get the best possible cinematic image. He prefers practical effects over computer-generated ones and real locations over soundstages — even when that means recreating an atomic explosion in the harsh winds of the New Mexico desert in the middle of the night for “Oppenheimer,” out July 21.  Though, despite internet rumors, they did not detonate an actual nuclear weapon…

Virginian-Pilot film critic Mal Vincent lives on through film festival, which starts Monday

Virginian-Pilot film critic Mal Vincent lives on through film festival, which starts Monday

(Reprinted from Virginian-Pilot) For nearly two decades, Mal Vincent stood in front of crowds each summer at Norfolk’s Naro Expanded Cinema just before the lights dimmed and classic films rolled onto the screen. The Virginian-Pilot’s movie critic introduced each movie as part of his film festival, “Mal’s Movies,” in an inimitable and rich Southern accent.

Asteroid City Review: Wes Anderson’s Cosmic Grief Comedy Is One of His Very Best Movies Yet

Asteroid City Review: Wes Anderson’s Cosmic Grief Comedy Is One of His Very Best Movies Yet

The following article was published by IndieWire.com 

What starts as just another immaculate Wes Anderson comedy eventually becomes the most cosmic and radical of them all.

Like any movie by Wes Anderson, “Asteroid City” is the epitome of a Wes Anderson movie. A film about a television program about a play within a play “about infinity and I don’t know what else” (as one character describes it), this delightfully profound desert charmer — by far the director’s best effort since “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” and in some respects the most poignant thing he’s ever made…

Nicole Holofcener Keeps Things Streamlined with ‘You Hurt My Feelings’

Nicole Holofcener Keeps Things Streamlined with ‘You Hurt My Feelings’

The following article was published by IndieWire.com 

“I wish that so many movies were a half hour shorter”
BY JIM HEMPHILL

You Hurt My Feelings” is the latest exquisitely mounted comedy from writer-director Nicole Holofcener, the American cinema’s master of marital unease. The premise is classic Holofcener: A writer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) overhears her husband (Tobias Menzies) saying what he really thinks of her work and reevaluates what she thought she knew about her relationship and, by extension, her own identity.

Judy Blume was banned from the beginning, but says ‘It never stopped me from writing’

…When Blume began writing for pre-teens and teens in the ’70s and ’80s, young readers devoured her novels, which spoke to their hopes and anxieties. Her 1970 book, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., told the story of an 11-year-old girl who worried that all the other girls were getting their periods, developing breasts and starting to wear bras — but she wasn’t. (That book, too, has been banned in various outlets, including, in the 1970s, at the primary school that Blume’s own children attended.)…

Everything Everywhere All at Once – Genre Mix Extraordinaire

Everything Everywhere All at Once – Genre Mix Extraordinaire

There are some interesting back stories behind the surprise smash Everything Everywhere All at Once. It seems that iconic martial arts start Jackie Chan was going to be in the lead role, but the feeling of the directors to pay homage to the strong women in their lives won out, and Michelle Yeoh was casted as the everywoman thrust into a dazzling multiverse of parallel lives.

An Homage to 70s Era B-Movie Making

An Homage to 70s Era B-Movie Making

The following is an open  letter to movie-goers from filmmaker Ti West, the writer, director, editor and producer of X, currently playing at The Naro. In it he discusses his inspiration for and general thoughts about this unusual film. It is reprinted in its entirety from distributor A24’s website. For more about Ti West’s background, see his Wikipedia entry here.