Tag: David Thewlis

Film Review: “The Thing With Feathers”

Cheap jump scares punctuate this grief-stricken slog

Dad (Benedict Cumberbatch) feeling very crow-y in “The Thing With Feathers.”

Sometimes you swing and miss, but at least you swung. The Thing With Feathers is a big swing and a miss. Aiming to entice horror fans with its phantasmagoric plot and cheap jump scares, The Thing With Feathers fails to offer anything more than a singular message about grief being tough to overcome. Despite Benedict Cumberbatch’s (The Roses) efforts to compensate for a shallow script and one-dimensional character, The Thing With Feathers remains a frustrating viewing experience. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Thing With Feathers””

Film Review: Anomalisa

 Kaufman’s tale of existential despair benefits from stop-motion artistry

Michael (voice of David Thewlis) and Lisa (voice of Jennifer Jason Leigh) hit it off.

Writer/director Charlie Kaufman returns to exploring familiar themes of existential angst with Anomalisa, the first film he’s both written and directed since 2008’s Synechdoche, New York. Judging from this new film, Kaufman hasn’t suddenly embraced a positive, life-is-beautiful philosophy in the intervening six years; indeed, if anything, his new picture is even more heartbreaking and pessimistic.

Continue reading “Film Review: Anomalisa”