Review: The Aeronauts

by Chris Feil

There’s an eyesore on the horizon with The Aeronauts, a cynically observed aerial adventure fatally encumbered by too many pixels. Reuniting the Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne after The Theory of Everything first welcomed both into the Oscar fold, this film is a strange amalgam of influences it fails to live up to. It’s part survival actioner, part vibrant costume drama, and part uplifting women-in-science empowerment tale. But the film’s blending of the three, and its attempts to infuse some modernity to the storytelling, is too clumsy to satisfy any of its points of entry.

The film stars Jones as Amelia Wren, a mid-19th century balloon pilot grieving an unexpected personal cost of her professional on top of patriarchal limitations. Her expertise makes her a fitting partner to Redmayne’s scientist James Glaisher, aiming to prove the science of early meteorology against highly skeptical widespread thought. But Wren and Glaisher have their own clashing of methods and degree of determination. In their flight mission, Glaisher pushes for them to ascend higher than any balloon in history, turning their quest for information into a brief but dangerous fight for survival.

Click to read more ...

Review: Todd Haynes returns with "Dark Waters"

by Murtada Elfadl

You know you are in good hands when the actor chosen to come in and jumpstart the plot, give dimensionality to the film, or just wreck the audience hearts is Bill Camp. This is exactly who Todd Haynes chooses to do all three of these things in Dark Waters. Camp is a Virginia farmer who calls on a corporate lawyer he knows from the old neighborhood (Mark Ruffalo) to help him sue the big corporation that is killing his animals, his family and himself with the toxic waste they spill out in the water system and into the bodies of the unsuspecting.

This is just the tip of a big iceberg that Robert Bilott (Ruffalo) uncovers...

Click to read more ...

Notes on films we haven't talked much about to catch-up...

by Nathaniel R

The year sure got away from us. People are diving into "Best of Decade" lists right and left and we're still waist deep in 2019's offerings. Here are some thoughts on films we didn't properly review for some reason. "Some reason" nearly always means not enough hours in the day and the less flattering but no less true (sigh) lack of self-discipline.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (Marielle Heller)
Non movie-based spoiler alert: This film will be on my top ten list. That's the excuse I kept making when delaying writing a real review. "You'll have to talk about that later anyway, Nathaniel" Still, the silence does this movie a disservice. Everyone should go see it at the first possible opportunity. Heller is one of our greatest working directors...

Click to read more ...

Review: Charlie's Angels (2019)

Box office and reviews have been tough on the new Angels. I guess today the contrarian corner is a theme here at TFE. Tony likes it! - editor.

by Tony Ruggio

We'll start with where I'm coming from: I’m no fan of the original series. The early-Aughts adaptations were mostly forgettable save a dance or two from Cameron Diaz and Sam Rockwell. But these 2019 Angels are surprisingly fresh and fun. It’s an IP brought back from irrelevant hell and updated with verve.

About the three new Angels. Elizabeth Banks is clearly in love with Kristen Stewart, and who can blame her? Stewart is a charisma machine as the weird, spunkiest Angel of the bunch. She's so good you almost wish she took movie star roles more often. You also forget there was once a time when she got gruff for playing mopey all the time. Those days are long gone...

Click to read more ...

Noirvember / Contrarian Corner: Motherless Brooklyn

By Lynn Lee

Is Motherless Brooklyn just another high-profile Oscar hopeful turned dud-on-arrival?  The early signs for Ed Norton’s long-gestating passion project have not been encouraging, to put it mildly.  Reviews on both the festival circuit and the film’s general release and here at TFE have been tepid, the box office even more so. Its awards prospects are pretty much nil.  It’s also not the kind of movie that’s likely to find success through word of mouth or build a long-term cult following, and its chances of future critical reevaluation are uncertain at best.

All of which makes me a little sad, because I quite enjoyed the film, and think Norton deserves more credit than he’s getting for what he’s accomplished...

Click to read more ...