Ghost World Comes Alive Thanks To Sharp Writing & Performances

It took me a minute to fully get into Ghost World. At first, the pervasively jaded sensibilities of this Terry Zwigoff directorial effort just were rubbing me the wrong way. Maybe it was just the fact that I was watching a movie about characters who don't care about anything when there were so many real-world events to care about? Timing is everything, including when you watch certain movies. Anywho, it wasn't long before Ghost World won me over just as it's proved irresistible for so many others in the nineteen years since it debut. Turn out there's a lot more going on underneath its jaded surface beyond just teenage nihilism.

Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story Is A Powerful Piece of Filmmaking

In many ways, it feels like Noah Baumbach has been working his whole career to get to the point where he could make Marriage Story. Throughout his nearly quarter-of-a-century of making movies, fractured families have been a recurring element across a number of his works. The concept of people you're supposed to be closest to having deep-seated problems with one another is one that Baumbach's explored plenty of times beforehand, but never in as insightful of a manner as he has with Marriage Story. Here, the scope is grander, the characters are richer in detail and the emotional moments really hit you in both the gut and the heart. 1995 Noah Baumbach couldn't have made a movie like Marriage Story that so unflinchingly tackles the complexities of going through with a  divorce. Turns out, waiting for him to be ready as a filmmaker was more than worth the wait.

Jojo Rabbit Takes A Bonkers Premise And Makes Something Quite Special With It

Jojo Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis), the lead character of Jojo Rabbit, is a ten-year-old boy like many others. He has an imaginary friend, he has a passion for the outdoors and he loves his Mom, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), even if he sometimes struggles to express that. But unlike many ten-year-old boys, Jojo is a Gentile growing up in Nazi Germany and he's as passionate about everything related to Nazism as modern-day ten-year-olds are with Magic: The Gathering. His ardent dedication to all things Nazi is reflected in his imaginary friend, his own version of Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi). However, Jojo's world gets turned upside down when he learns that his Mom has taken in a Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) and is hiding her from the Gestapo in a secret compartment in their house.

The Prestige Is Magic, You Knoooooow....Never Believe It's Not So!

In between creating two different Batman movies that revolutionized how we would forever see the character, director Christopher Nolan managed to also churn out a thriller entirely centered on magicians entitled The Prestige. A Fall 2006 drama starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, it did not receive the massive box office intakes Nolan's directorial efforts now make without even blinking, instead ranking as the 61st biggest movie of 2006, winding up narrowly behind Final Destination 3 and the 2006 remake of The Omen. Of course, people have been talking about and enjoying The Prestige long after those horror films have faded from the public's memory and now upon seeing The Prestige for myself, it's easy to see why it's garnered such acclaim over the past decade.

Rough Night Has Major Story Problems But Don't Worry, It's Got A Good Number Of Laughs To Its Name

Someone pointed out to me the other day how the new comedy Rough Night marks Scarlett Johansson's first foray into straight-up full-on comedies and to my surprise, it kind of actually is. Granted, she's gone into romantic comedies multiple times in her career as well as a Woody Allen dramedy (I'm shocked I didn't know a Hugh Jackman/Scarlett Johansson comedy from Woody Allen movie even existed prior to a couple months ago) and providing voicework for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and Sing but in terms of headlining a top-to-bottom live-action comedy, this new Lucia Aniello feature does mark new terrain for the celebrated actor.

KNOCK KNOCK YOU ABOUT TO GET (Ghost In The) SHELL SHOCKED

There's a lot of blockbuster movies that combine thoughtfulness with high-octane action. The Matrix is a great example of this, ditto for The Dark Knight or Mad Max: Fury Road or the original Jurassic Park. The new live-action take on Ghost In The Shell appears to be striving to join the ranks of those films as beloved pieces of filmmaking that manage to contain both lots of punching and an equal amount of ideas that'll leave viewers pondering for quite a while. Unfortunately, neither the themes nor the action in Ghost In The Shell turn out to be all that interesting with both elements coming out as simply being frustratingly undercooked.

The Animals Are Running Mild In We Bought A Zoo

We Bought A Zoo. We Bought A Zoo. We. Bought. A. Zoo. A little over five years after its initial theatrical release, the title of this 2011 Cameron Crowe motion picture still feels like a goofy joke, to the point that the host of this year's Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel, devoted an entire segment of the ceremony to mocking the film as part of his fictitious long-standing feud with Matt Damon. Add in how Cameron Crowe's recent artistic endeavors haven't gone great (Aloha was one of the worst movies of 2015 and his Showtime drama from last year, Roadies, has already been forgotten) and it's not hard to see how We Bought A Zoo has become a punchline.

Sing Needs A Tune-Up

The highest piece of praise I can offer Sing is that it's the best motion picture created by Illumination Entertainment since the very first Despicable Me movie back in 2010. But considering that in the six year span since the first Despicable Me they've only made the likes of Hop, that forgettable Lorax movie, two middling Despicable Me follow-ups and this summer's blah The Secret Life Of Pets, that's not a high bar to clear. Even worse, taken on its own merits, Sing is just an average, inoffensive but extremely unmemorable kind of movie, one without much of anything in the way of a distinctive identity to lodge it into ones mind once the credits begin to roll.

Captain America: Civil War Review

If I had a time machine, ya know where I'd go? Back to March 2003, the month when the pilot for the classic TV series Arrested Development was filmed. Somehow, I'd find a way to talk to the duo directing this pilot, two individuals by the name of Anthony and Joe Russo. I'd take them aside momentarily to tell them that not only would the show they're currently working on would go on to become one of the most prolific TV comedies of all-time, but these two would be responsible for two of the most beloved blockbusters in one of the biggest film franchises ever to exist.

Hail, Caesar! Review

When ya get down to brass tacks, Hail, Caesar! essentially works as a Coen Brothers directed fan film dedicated to waxing poetic about the various virtues of the assorted genres that were most popular among moviegoers in that era. Does that sound like a complaint? Well, rest assured, it is most certainly not; in fact, the clear devotion the Coen Brothers have for this time period becomes most infectious, while there's also more methodical material (primarily revolving around our lead character) intercut in between their various homages to the films of the past to balance things out a bit.

Her Review

What? Is She Funny Or Something?

Some people spent last night going to parties, or going on dates, but me? I was the coolest dude on the planet, because I spent the evening alone watching the best movie of 2013: Her. Rewatching the film for the first time since it's theatrical release only reaffirmed my praise for this modern masterpiece, which is one of the best artistic depictions of the deeper intricacies of love and human connection ever brought to life.

Aaron Sorkin Written Steve Jobs Movie Loses Home At Sony, But All Hope Is Not Lost

It's been a rough road for the Steve Jobs biopic written by Aaron Sorkin. David Fincher was supposed to direct it, make it a nice Social Network reunion, but he passed. Then, Danny Boyle came on as director, only for lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio to pass. Christian Bale, who had been floated around as a lead for the project when Fincher was directing, reattached himself to the project, and then left it. Michael Fassbender was in talks to play the lead of Steve Jobs, while Seth Rogen, Jessica Chastain and Scarlett Johnansson were in discussions for roles in the feature.

The Next Coen Brothers Movie Has A 2016 Release Date!

Whether it's through True Grit, Inside Llewyn Davis, Burn After Reading or the incomparable No Country For Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen have been an unstoppable directing duo in the 21st century after breaking through in the 90's with the likes of Fargo and The Big Lebowski. The duo will have a new movie called Hail Caesar! out soon, with a cast that includes Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.

Editorial: Can We Start Giving Superhero Movies Some Respect?

The writer with the largest presence on Rope of Silicon, Brad Brevet, used to be one of my favorite writers when it came to the world of cinema, but sometime last summer, a shift happened in his writing. It was like a switch flipped in his brain or something, every single thing he wrote was dripping in gratuitous cynicism. Now, a cynical approach is not only a perfectly fine way to write pieces on movies, it can be a great angle if one does it in a successful fashion. Unfortunately, Brevet has made it tiring to read his endless mean-spirited attitudes towards blockbuster filmmaking.

Lucy Review

Big, Bold And Boring

Remember that scene in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace where Qui-Gon Jinn explained Midichlorians to young Anakin? It gave a dull explanation as to how The Force exactly worked, irking fans and casual moviegoers alike. Sometimes explanation is nice, but most of the time, moments full of heavy handed exposition regarding how exactly things work in a movie becomes more cumbersome than enlightening. Lucy is pretty much a 90 minute long Midichlorian sequence, despite some ambitious filmmakings choices and the presence of Scarlett Johansson. 

Box Office Predictions: Scarlett Johansson Should Beat Up Dwayne Johnson This Weekend

Three new releases (and one expanding release) enter the box office in hopes of recovering from that abysmal showing last weekend. Luckily, Lucy looks poised to deliver impressive numbers, though Hercules looks like it'll be a flop.

First Avengers 2 Photos Show off Ultron, Scarlet Witch and Bruce Banner In A Lab Coat

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans reprise their roles as Iron Man
and Captain America, but the robotic fellow is the dude them and their fellow
Avengers will face next Summer, Ultron. Not a cool guy.

As you can tell by my avatar, I'm kind of a Marvel fan. So obviously I'm super duper pumped to see what the studios got up their sleeve this forthcoming Comic-Con. One thing that'll be on prominent display is their major summer 2015 release The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which as you might have guessed, is a sequel to a mildly successful The Avengers. Entertainment Weekly has made the movie their cover story for the week, and as you can tell by the awesome cover above, The Avengers are about to face a mighty awesome looking foe. Below, are a bunch of new photos along with my brief explanations for the uninitiated.

Begin Again Review

First you get the music, then you get the sugar, then you get the women.

Considering all the changes the music industry has undergone in the past decade and a half, a film focusing on a music executive and his attempt to bring a new singer into the spotlight might be an excellent way to look at those changes. And if you wanna ignore that, cool. I'm sure this is a fantastic opportunity to utilize the talents of folks like Mark Ruffalo, Kiera Knightly and Hallie Steinfeld in a film that's exceptionally well written. That's that? The movie is a disappointing mixture of cliches and tediousness? Well now, ain't that a kick in the head.

New Jungle Book Movie Adds Ben Kingsley To Awesome Cast!

Ben Kingsley?Trevor Slattery 

I absolutely love Disney (which, interestingly enough, was my first word spoken as a human being!), but I'm especially fond of their work on the animated side of things. Out of all 53 animated features Walt Disney Animation Studios has made though, my all-time favorite may be The Jungle Book, a superbly crafted masterpiece that just has no shortage of energy, fun and engrossing characters. That classic film is the next Disney animated film in line to be given the live-action/CGI treatment that was bestowed upon Alice In Wonderland and Maleficent. A remake of this movie should make my blood boil, but with the talent already lined up for it (and plenty more to come!) the project so far sounds delightful.

Chef Review

It must be said that Jon Favreau has probably has had the most unexpected career trajectory in Hollywood except for maybe Neil Patrick Harris. Who would have thought the dude who played a recurring character on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command would end up directing the best Christmas (Elf) and Superhero (Iron Man) movies of all-time? Of course, he's had his struggles, with him squaring off against Marvel Studios over the direction of Iron Man 2 and Cowboys and Aliens becoming a major financial failure.