Review: ‘The Toll’
Michael Nader’s The Toll straddles the line of horror film rhetoric between updated urban thriller and old-school psychological terror. It begins in the world of cell … Continue reading Review: ‘The Toll’
Author: Joe Baker
writer and film enthusiast living and working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
Review: ‘The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’
Based on his own short story and written by acclaimed novelist Lev Grossman, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is tailor made for the young adult/teen audience lapping up the modestly scaled features and Netflix-budgeted mini-series aimed at their hungry … Continue reading Review: ‘The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’
Review: ‘The World to Come’
With a rustically poetic voice-over and an eye for the harshness of the western frontier (both exterior and interior), Mona Fastvold’s The World to Come brilliantly charts the relationship that blossoms between two women in a time not known for … Continue reading Review: ‘The World to Come’
Review: ‘Bliss’
A quick glance across director Mike Cahill’s previous films reveals a deep interest in stories with a dedicated sci-fi bent. In both Another Earth (2011) and I, Origins (2014)- which he organized with sometimes writing partner and actress Brit Marling- … Continue reading Review: ‘Bliss’
My Favorite Movies of 2020
15. Tesla (Michael Almereyda) Michael Almereyda’s film is the type of beast that sees Tesla (played by Ethan Hawke) break into karaoke of a Tears For Fears song when he’s down in the dumps. In yet another scene, the world’s first international theater star- Sarah Bernhardt- enters backstage with music from a rave playing behind her. To call this film anachronistic is an understatement. But its also deadly serious about its dedication in portraying the torturous moments of the brilliant inventor’s life and stacks an adventurous cast around him, especially in the chilly gaze of Eve Hewson (of The Knick … Continue reading My Favorite Movies of 2020
Review: ‘One Night in Miami’
The idea of famous personalities converging in one starstruck place at the same time has been fertile stagecraft for decades. In the mid 1980’s, British filmmaker Nicholas Roeg adapted the play Insignificance by writer Terry Johnson that posited the idea of Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Joseph McCarthy winding around each other in a hotel over the course of one night. Johnson stated his inspiration stemmed from the fact an autograph of Einstein was found among Monroe’s possessions after her death. It’s an interesting film, but one that doesn’t quite deliver on Roeg’s previous visual panache and suffers … Continue reading Review: ‘One Night in Miami’
