boyhood

THE 50 GREATEST MOVIE TRAILERS (Part 3)

/ Chris Luckett / Leave a comment
Photo: Warner Bros.

Photo: Warner Bros.

Chris Luckett

Movie trailers have evolved a great deal over the years, from the 6-minute packages shown after moving pictures in the 1910s (hence the term “trailer”) to boundary-pushing previews preceding movies in the 1970s to the heavily promoted online launches of trailers today. Recently, the worldwide launches for the debut trailers of movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation have actually been preceded in the days prior by trailers for their trailers. Continue reading →

SPECIAL: The Best Movies of 2014

/ Chris Luckett / 1 Comment
Photo: Open Road Films/Elevation Pictures

Photo: Open Road Films/Elevation Pictures

Chris Luckett

Twenty-fourteen was not the best year for movies. By no means is that to say there weren’t some truly great ones, but there was more than the usual number of mediocre or simply good movies, and fewer masterpieces than in the past few years.

That having been said, while there may not have been as large an abundance, there were still 25 films that stood above all the rest. Comedy, sci-fi, drama, animation, romance, suspense, documentary, horror, and action make up these, the very best movies of the year. Continue reading →

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The Best Movies of 2014 (So Far)

/ Chris Luckett
Photo: Warner Bros.

Photo: Warner Bros.

Chris Luckett

On New Year’s Eve last year, I resolved to try and see every wide release that came out in 2014. (“Wide release,” these days, means a minimum of 600 screens.) It’s resulted in me seeing many more movies by this point in time than I usually do. Last year, I didn’t see my 50th movie until the first week of October. This year, with another month to go until October, I’ve already seen 84 movies from 2014. Continue reading →

REVIEW: Boyhood

/ Chris Luckett
Photo: IFC Films

Photo: IFC Films

Chris Luckett

Boyhood, the picture that has gone from a small indie film to one of the most talked-about movies of the summer, was filmed over the span of 12 years. Between the ages of 6 and 18, Ellar Coltrane filmed scenes for the movie, aging a dozen years over the running time of the film.

It was an incredibly daring gamble on writer-director Richard Linklater’s part. What if Coltrane (cast as Mason Evans, Jr.) lost interest in doing the movie after a couple of years? What if Ethan Hawke or Patricia Arquette, who play Mason’s parents, quit acting during that time? What if Linklater or one of the actors passed away before finishing it? There were so many things to that could go wrong with making Boyhood. Fortunately, everything came together nearly perfectly, creating a one-of-a-kind, cinematic wonder.

Continue reading →