Podcast: Detroit, Girls Trip, Atomic Blonde, Landline

Nathaniel and Nick discuss six new films. No spoilers.

Index (42 minutes)
00:01 Why you should see A Ghost Story & Lady Macbeth
04:00 Kathryn Bigelow stumbles with Detroit (what we hope she does next)
16:40 Atomic Blonde is a blast, a true feat of direction and Charlize Theron-ness
29:40 Girls Trip is crazy well-acted fun
37:00 Landline is a let-down
38:30 Recommendations from 1963 for the helluva it

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Atomic Blonde, Detroit, Girls Trip

Double Feature: "Atomic Blonde" and "Girl's Trip"

This article was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad. It is reprinted here in a slightly extended edition.

It’s a special ‘Sister’s Are Doin’ It For Themselves’ double review with two female-driven hits.

Have you caught Girls Trip yet? I was one week late to the party after its hit opening weekend. When we looked around the theater this weekend my best friend was all “it’s 80% women of color and 20% gay men!” Truth! And perfect as target audiences go for an urban female comedy called Girls Trip. The crowd was boisterous, laughing their asses off throughout but also visibly feeling the '90s hiphop soundtrack and audibly praising the “message” moments in the movie.

The night before I saw Atomic Blonde and though I didn’t see anyone dancing in their seats, I was dancing on the inside with its killer 1980s new wave soundtrack...

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Podcast: Dunkirk and Spider-Man Homecoming

In this episode Nathaniel, Joe and Nick talk about the latest superhero movie (Spider-Man Homecoming) and the latest heroic movie without super powers (Dunkirk). Plus Nick has very exciting upcoming Film Comment issue news.

Index (42 minutes)
00:01 Nick talked to Jane Campion, omg!
03:15 Spider-Man Homecoming, Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, and a brief sidebar to Avengers: Age of Ultron
13:33 Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan's recurring obsessions, and brief tangents to Detroit and The Beguiled

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

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• Revenge of the Twinks
• Review Spider-Man Homecoming
• Previous Podcast

Dunkirk and Spidey

Brief Notes on Baby Driver and Spider-Man

by Nathaniel R

I'd be remiss if I didn't publicly thank Chris Feil for the extra work he did while I was away. Such a good hire. (Send him your love and follow him on Twitter!) Herewith 150 words each on two movies Chris already reviewed but I wanted to chime in briefly just cuz.

BABY DRIVER
As some of you know I just returned from the National Critics Institute. In one session we read a curated batch of stellar articles and we discussed in fine detail as a group what made them pop and resonate...

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Posterized: Edgar Wright

Who knew that you could take a coffee break on the red carpet? by Nathaniel R

After the unfortunate "creative differences" on Marvel's Ant Man (2015) which Edgar Wright abandoned despite years of passionate development of the project, isn't it nice to see him bounce back so definitely with Baby Driver? That heist-comedy-wishitwasamusical-thriller opened this Wednesday to mostly stellar reviews (alas, our own Chris Feil wasn't a fan). I saw it at a packed screening on its preview night and the crowd ate it up; the movie tasted more delicious than my stale popcorn. That might seem like meager praise but please note that I have a high tolerance for stale popcorn and a low tolerance for heist films which are the single most overplayed action subgenre.

The witty director came to fame with UK comic sitcoms (my best high school girlfriend forced me to watch the first season of Spaced one visit and it was a delight). Wright then won a new round of fans on the big screen with the zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead (2004) which launched the loosely connected fan favorite "Cornetto Trilogy". He's just 43 so there's much more filmography to come. Hooray! 

How many Wright's have you seen and which is your favorite? 
It's too early to say definitively but I think he just might have topped his own best with Baby Driver. It's a goofy stylish and mechanically precise blast.