Now Playing — The Running Man
The Running Man stumbles and falls Continue reading Now Playing — The Running Man
Tag: edgar wright
Now Playing — Last Night in Soho
The protagonist of Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright’s latest film, can be viewed as a surrogate for any number of filmmakers, including, just maybe, the one who presides over her story. Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) is a young woman from … Continue reading Now Playing — Last Night in Soho
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Seven
#37 — Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2010) In adapting movies from other works, fidelity to source material can trip up even the most skilled directors. There’s a natural instinct to hew closely to whatever is being transferred … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Seven
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Eight
#48 — Baby Driver (Edgar Wright, 2017) Especially as they scale up, movies are monumentally difficult to make. Relying on a vast team of specialized collaborators practically guarantees that a long process will be beset by unfortunate compromises and the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Eight
Top Ten Movies of 2017 — Number Six
In the basic mechanics of its story, Baby Driver is familiar to the point of farce. There’s our hero, Baby (Ansel Elgort), referenced in the title, a young man of preternatural skill whose excursion in the seedier side of society … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2017 — Number Six
Now Playing: Baby Driver
When I stop to really think about the state of modern movies, one shortcoming is perplexing above all others. How is it that there are so few creations that evidence an abundant, overwhelming, crushing love of moviemaking itself? We’re now … Continue reading Now Playing: Baby Driver
From the Archive: Hot Fuzz
This is a short one (it was originally offered as part of a set of capsule reviews), but it represents the first time I wrote about an Edgar Wright movie. In part because of the hit-and-run nature of the review, I didn’t write about his direction much. Truthfully, it wasn’t until Wright’s next film that his visual acumen and storytelling ingenuity really started to dazzle me. While I will elaborate in a few days, I’ll promptly acknowledge that I’m revisiting this particular piece because Wright has just delivered what I’m confident will shake out as one of the best films of … Continue reading From the Archive: Hot Fuzz
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Shaun of the Dead was clearly a take on zombie movies, and Hot Fuzz took direct aim at action films, even calling out Michael Bay by name. According to star and co-writer Simon Pegg, the third film in the loosely … Continue reading Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Top Ten Movies of 2010 — Number Ten
In adapting Bryan Lee O’Malley’s series of graphic novels following the romantic exploits of Toronto layabout Scott Pilgrim, director Edgar Wright presumably had at least six different titles to choose from. Settling on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is perfectly … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2010 — Number Ten
Banksy, Jackson, Parker, Scorsese, Wright
The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson, 2009). So poorly conceived that it borders on tragic. Jackson and his regular collaborators adapt Alice Sebold’s acclaimed and beloved 2002 novel about a murdered teenage girl, demonstrating such a bizarre lack of empathy that whole film takes on an off-putting robotic sheen. The movie is senseless in every definition of the word, over-directed and utterly tone-deaf. The actors all seem to have stumbled in from other movies with Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci approaching satire in their broadly drawn roles, Rachel Weisz looking bored and Mark Wahlberg thoroughly perplexed. It is cluttered with garish … Continue reading Banksy, Jackson, Parker, Scorsese, Wright
Coffee for Two 