#REVIEW: “SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE”
By Mr. Will Wong
Scott Cooper directs SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE, adapted from Warren Zane's Biography of the same name. While this might not be the complete Bruce Springsteen Biopic that some are expecting, it hones-in on a critical timeframe in The Boss' legendary career, just as he was poised for superstardom. Red-hot Jeremy Allen White gets the prime assignment of portraying Springsteen and does it masterfully.
We meet Springsteen here hot off his hit "Hungry Heart", as he heads ...
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#REVIEW: “BLUE MOON”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Director Richard Linklater has two strong films coming out this fall, and both follow creative visionaries in their field. Nouvelle Vague follows Director Jean-Luc Godard as he filmed Breathless, while Blue Moon follows legendary Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) on one pivotal night.
Blue Moon takes place in one bar on one storied night on Broadway. Lorenz leaves the Broadway opening of “Oklahoma!” to arrive at ...
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#REVIEW: “SHELBY OAKS”
Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Since Fantasia International Film Festival 2024, I have wanted to see Chris Stuckmann’s feature directorial debut Shelby Oaks. So to say that the hype and anticipation for this was drastically through the roof is an understatement. It was going to be near impossible for it to meet expectations. Well, with all that being said, not only did Stuckmann manage to meet my expectations, he somehow exceeds them, creating one of the most unsettling, ...
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#REVIEW: “THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE”
By Mr. Will Wong
1992 Domestic Thriller THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE not only went on to become a very popular film, it was one of the time's most profitable movies. Michelle Garza Cervera brings this haunting story to today's audience, updating points of relevance while still maintaining some of the original's magnetic creepiness.
We love a good tale of obsession, specifically ones about intruders. Something about the everyday person overcoming a threat to protect what matters most to them ...
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#REVIEW: “THE MASTERMIND”
Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
The Mastermind is Kelly Reichardt's heist movie. That's the pitch. Known for her thoughtful, slow-paced approach to storytelling, Reichardt might be the last person you'd think of to tackle anything thriller-adjacent. But she's not here to tackle anything. In her latest, ironically-titled vision, she quietly and carefully unravels the genre with the help of Josh O'Connor, playing a man with a plan that collapses in on itself in the least ...
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#REVIEW: “THE BLACK PHONE 2”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
The Black Phone 2Â is a darker, creepier sequel that delivers on scares and story.
It’s been a few years since Finn (Mason Thames) defeated serial killer the Grabber (Ethan Hawke). Now 17, he’s been struggling with life after his captivity. His life gets more complicated when his younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) begins receiving calls from the black phone and sees disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp. The ...
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#REVIEW: “GOOD FORTUNE”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Many films have been told about taking down the upper-class, or eating the rich. There’s also been many body/life switching films made. But there hasn’t really been a film that’s merged these two worlds. With Good Fortune, Aziz Ansari asks, “Why eat the rich when you can BE the rich?” And that’s how he’s written and directed a film about today’s classism while delivering on the comedy.
Gig worker Arj (Ansari) can’t catch a break. He ...
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#REVIEW: “AFTER THE HUNT”
Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
From the first frame of After the Hunt, it’s clear that Luca Guadagnino intends to play with fire. He invokes Woody Allen with his unmistakable font and minimalist opening credits style, and we’re thrust into the hallowed halls of Yale, where a mixed group of students and professors debate the merit of classic philosophers who surely would have been written off in a modern political context for problematic behaviour.
On its face, this ...
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#REVIEW: “KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
The origin of Kiss of the Spider Woman traces back to 1976 with the novel of the same name by Manuel Puig. It was then adapted for the stage by Terrance McNally in 1993, where it became a multiple Tony Award winner. Then in 1985, it was adapted for the big screen, where it won Best Actor for Willian Hurt and became the first independently-produced film to be nominated for Best Picture. So, it’s fair to say that the history of this ...
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#REVIEW: “ANEMONE”
Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
Daniel Day-Lewis returns for the first time since Phantom Thread (2017) with Anemone, a small-scale drama about a hermit with an unsavoury past, and his brother (Sean Bean)'s solitary mission to reunite him with his estranged son (Samuel Bottomley) and ex-wife (Samantha Morton). The already-messy dynamic between the brothers is even further complicated by Bean taking Day-Lewis' place in the family as both husband and father during his ...
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