A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
Film adaptations of video games remain a fraught landscape. I’ve come to approach their arrival with a high degree of skepticism given how frequently the screen adaptations can lose sight of the fun by taking themselves too seriously. It is a joy to report that my doubts largely melted away in the face of the newest Mortal Kombat’s absurdity and commitment to having a lot of fun with the story.
Voyagers, written and directed by Neil Burger, hits wide release this week. For a supposed “adventure” film, it is not particularly adventurous. For a film that calls itself a “thriller,” it is only moderately thrilling. The most compelling part remains the initial inklings of the story, which regrettably does not settle into a satisfying destination.
An over-the-top action film that plays it all with a knowing wink, Nobody isn’t going to reinvent the wheel of action cinema. It instead opts to blow it to smithereens and have a wicked smile on its face while doing it.
Swan Song (2021 | USA | 105 minutes | Todd Stephens) The third film in writer-director Todd Stephens’ self-titled “Ohio Trilogy,” Swan …
Come True is a waking nightmare that blurs the line between dreams and reality before regrettably getting lost in its own descent. …
A story that is quite literally about how the real journey is about the friends we made along the way, Raya and the Last Dragon follows a familiar Disney formula while still taking some new paths.
Billie Holiday was an incredible artist and a courageous person whose impact echoed long beyond her lifetime. Holiday’s music has deeply resonated despite her talents not receiving proper recognition until after her death. That death came at a tragically young age and stemmed from struggles with addiction. She was targeted by the U.S. government for that addiction and for singing the still mighty song “Strange Fruit” as it protested the lynchings of Black people.
Despite being about such a historic figure with a committed central performance by singer Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday creates a middling-at-best biopic that is only barely salvageable.
There is much to reflect on with the film Nomadland. It is perhaps the most critically praised film of the year, the Seattle Film Critics Society named it their best film of the year this week, and for good reason. It is a beautifully constructed work by writer and director Chloé Zhao who adapted it from the 2017 book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by journalist Jessica Bruder. After Zhao’s last film, 2017’s The Rider, it was hard to imagine her creating another film on par with that one.
Yet Zhao has done just that and more.
