Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
The makers of Sicario: Day of the Soldado probably couldn’t have predicted just how relevant their film would be today back when it was greenlit to follow its 2015 precursor Sicario. But those hoping for a searing dramatization of the inner workings of the U.S./Mexico border patrol and its operators will be sorely disappointed with this sequel, which offers plenty of gore and violence, but little in the way of prescient or urgent social commentary.
Jordan Peele, one half of the sketch comedy duo Key and Peele, makes his directorial debut with Get Out, a startling original take on the horror film genre that shouldn’t be missed. If you’ve seen the trailer, don’t be fooled; the trailer implies the movie may be a lowbrow, cheesy, run-of-the-mill-horror film, but it’s anything but. What Peele, who also penned the screenplay, has created here is a horror/comedy/social commentary mash up that’s one of the most entertaining, surprising, and utterly unique pictures to come along in years.
Continue reading “Film Review: Get Out“
Fans of HBO’s Sex and the City may remember an episode in which the four protagonists attend a singles party to which they are each supposed to bring someone they dated, but ultimately rejected, the theory being that one woman’s trash, if you will, can just as easily be another’s treasure. Writer/director Nicole Holofcener, who coincidentally penned a few episodes of SATC (as well as the indies Friends with Money and Lovely and Amazing), has taken that idea and, in her new film Enough Said, expanded it to a full length feature, with a twist: what if you are dating your friend’s ex, but your friend actually has absolutely nothing kind to say about him? Holofcener’s take on this premise is by turns exceptionally funny, wryly intelligent, emotionally honest, and genuinely moving. Continue reading “Film Review: Enough Said“