Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
Chris Luckett
One is an incident; two is a coincidence; three is a pattern.
In the fall of 2013, the sci-fi masterpiece Gravity took the world by storm. In late 2014, the spectacular Interstellar did the same. Now here we are, in the first week of October 2015, and sure enough, here comes The Martian. And lo and behold, it’s absolutely brilliant.
Photo: E1 Entertainment
Chris Luckett
In the last two decades, romantic comedies have learned to add drama, killer music, and realistic dialogue to create richer and more evocative experiences on film. (See: Chasing Amy, High Fidelity, Garden State, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and 500 Days of Summer.) (Seriously, see them.)
The F Word (or the more generically titled What If, in the U.S.) follows that same path, but still manages to keep one foot planted in the mentality of pre-‘90s rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally… and Moonstruck. Oddly, instead of seeming of two time periods, The F Word finds a happy blend of the two styles and ends up being one of the better romantic comedies of the last few years.
Photo: Focus Features
Chris Luckett
Part of the reason some people don’t agree with film critics is because (generally speaking) most people’s opinions on a movie are affected by how much they like it. Film critics, meanwhile, strive to judge a movie on its quality alone and to remove their biases and personal tastes from the equation. It causes real problems when enjoyable but dumb movies are released. How “good” people find That Awkward Moment to be is going to be largely affected by how much they like it. Let it be said, though: it’s a hard movie not to like. Continue reading
The Apple Box 