Tag: Cailee Spaeny

Film Review: “Civil War”

Civil War is bravura filmmaking with humanity at its core

Alex Garland directed Ex Machina in 2014, Annihilation in 2018, Men in 2022, and now, Civil War. That’s four definite or near masterpieces, in my humble opinion. Each film in his directorial oeuvre has served as a cinematic discussion about the impact an ever-changing issue has had on humanity, sometimes overt and other times metaphorical: artificial intelligence, environmental degradation, toxic masculinity, and now, divisive American political idealism. It would be easy to criticize Civil War as “teaching us nothing new,” but that would be missing the point. The film is not intended to be a blaring warning siren. Instead, Civil War is a disturbing sensory vision of the future, featuring a distinct set of strong characters to help ground its grand-scale and daring filmmaking, meant to elicit a potent sense of current anxieties. Continue reading “Film Review: “Civil War””

Film Review: “Priscilla”

Coppola operates with tender precision in Priscilla

When considering last year’s Baz Luhrmann film Elvis (if you will humor me for a moment), it’s a challenge to identify a more tonal antithesis than Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla. Where Elvis is noisy and energetic, Priscilla is quiet and mellow. Where Elvis is over-the-top and wide-reaching, Priscilla is narrow and understated. They are two vastly different films focused on two vastly different characters. Priscilla, though, is the better film. The comparisons are inevitable, despite their distinct objectives. Priscilla represents a delicate portrayal of Priscilla Presley’s experience with Elvis, from meetup to breakup, almost exclusively from her point of view. Continue reading “Film Review: “Priscilla””

Film Review: Bad Times at the El Royale

Bad times at this hotel make for good times at the cinema  

A disparate trio of guests (from l., Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges, and Cynthia Ervio) wait to check in to Lake Tahoe’s El Royale hotel.

Mad Men fans still mourning the end of that show have reason to rejoice: Jon Hamm revisits the late ‘60s in Bad Times at the El Royale, a period noir mystery that has stylistic echoes of Matthew Weiner’s acclaimed series. Imagine if Don Draper were a southern appliance salesman (still with a deep secret, of course) instead of a New York ad man, and you’ve got a sense of Hamm’s role here. But Hamm’s return to a 1969 persona is just one small reason to see this well-crafted and well-acted thriller, which has retro style and clever twists to spare.

Continue reading “Film Review: Bad Times at the El Royale“