Review: Shirley

by Chris Feil

Josephine Decker’s Shirley opens with the false optimism of young love with a couple in the mold of American idealism. Over the film’s volleying and spry 107 minutes, Decker curdles it with subversion by focusing on their dismantler: the genius writer Shirley Jackson, played by Elisabeth Moss.

The couple at the center, Rose (Odessa Young) and Fred (Logan Lerman), arrive in a college town already imbalanced, favoring the advancement of his studies over her own. Fred is under the leadership of writer and professor Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg), the husband of Jackson, with Rose and Fred taking up residence in their booze-drenched home. The young couple disrupts their existence with tranquility and squareness, but Rose’s curiosity and oppression halts a patch of writer’s block for Shirley. The film crescendos with the status quo of the campus upper crust, Rose’s intoxication with Shirley, and the wringing of Shirley’s next masterpiece.

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Review: The High Note

by Chris Feil

Are VH1 Movies That Rock still a thing? The kind of movie that the VH1 programming gods connected through the vague thematic tissue of music, casual comfort viewing meant to be consumed on repeated Sunday afternoons, structured flawlessly to pause for snack breaks? It’s as if those gods had carved The High Note from gold for how much the film embodies that vibe.

The film centers around a music icon Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) and her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson). As Grace attempts another relaunch of old music, Maggie’s music producer ambitions clash against Grace’s tried-and-true formula for success - and the star’s wariness that her assistant might be using her coattails. But Maggie begins to grow her producer chops (and a little romance) with a fledging singer songwriter (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), and struggles to balance her goals with her loyalty to her demanding boss within an uncrackable industry...

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Review: The Lovebirds

by Tony Ruggio

Michael Showalter’s follow-up to The Big Sick is both a wonderful showcase for its two stars, the whip-smart Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae, and a disappointing mismash of comedy and murder mystery. Though we know it was originally intended for theatrical release, the film continues a strange, disquieting trend of so-called “Netflix originals” which feel incomplete from a narrative standpoint. 

Their four-year relationship on the skids, Jibran (Nanjiani) and Leilani (Rae) are on the verge of a bad break-up when they’re thrust into the middle of a conspiracy involving one dead bicyclist, a secret cult, and a sketchy self-proclaimed cop with a bushy mustache (Paul Sparks). With police on their tail, potentially marking them for vehicular manslaughter, the bickering couple sneak around New Orleans attempting to solve said mystery and dodge wealthy individuals who want them dead...

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Review: Military Wives

by Chris Feil

Much of the newest film from The Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo, Military Wives, follows the mold of that effort that made him an Oscar nominee. It’s an emotionally effective ensemble portrait of blue collar Britain, with unseasoned performers finding a renewed sense of community through performance. Good times, neatly plotted setbacks, and reconciliation within family units are had by all. It even ends on an iconic disco track, but this time with even more charmingly awkward dancing.

However, Military Wives is more defined by its modesty than its showmanship, lovely and satisfying but without much in the way of complication or embellishment. Even as it follows the formula, it downplays much of its musicality and emotional grace notes when you expect it to soar. Comfort classic status is sadly averted due to its lower register, and yet it still fulfills most of what you crave in a film such as this.

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Ryan Murphy's "Hollywood" Finale

by Cláudio Alves

Sometimes artists dig their own graves by badly promoting or describing their works. Ryan Murphy's Hollywood is, to me, a good example of that. First off, the title is too vague, promising a portrait of Hollywood history instead of the fantasy the series presents. "Dreamland" would be an infinitely better name, both as a descriptor of the content and a tie-in to the narrative's details.

Titles aside, another big problem surrounding Hollywood is how many have been calling it revisionist history. It's no such thing…

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