Mission: Impossible – Fallout is everything audiences have come to expect from this iconic action film franchise and then some. With impressively choreographed stunts, thrilling action sequences, ever-rising stakes, a likable cast and, surprisingly, a heart, the movie transcends the stereotype of a summer blockbuster, becoming perhaps the best Mission: Impossible installment to date and…
The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The Washington Summit on nuclear arms reduction took place in December 1987. While this last event aptly set the tense stage for The Americans’ sixth and final season, the first two predicted its ending. Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings’ (Keri Russell) mission…
Plays are a fascinating medium through which to tell a story. Not only does the audience see the action unfold in front of them as it happens but, depending on the skill of the actors and the director, viewers may even begin to feel a part of it. The 2018 Folger Theater production of Shakespeare’s…
Many will want to refer to Darkest Hour, Joe Wright’s latest directorial effort, as a history lesson. The film traces Winston Churchill’s first month in office, providing a detailed look at the politics behind the British decision to finally engage in total war with Germany after the fall of Western Europe. However, the film serves…
Battle of the Sexes employs a largely impractical structure to tell the story of how two tennis giants of opposite sexes went head-to-head in a legendary match in 1973. Starring Emma Stone as tennis legend and feminist icon Billie Jean King and Steve Carell as the openly chauvinistic, retired tennis champion Bobby Riggs, the movie…
The Emmys are upon us, and with Game of Thrones ineligible this year, we are in for a wild ride that is sure to bring some welcomed surprises. This year has one of the stronger Emmy lineups in recent memory, which makes picking a possible winner all the most difficult, but at the same time…
In the age of prequels and sequels, it is hard to find quality films that can be part of a whole while also working well as standalone products. Alien: Covenant, the sixth installment of Ridley Scott’s revered Alien franchise, is one such film. As both a sequel to Prometheus and a prequel to 1979’s Alien,…
“This is how it ends, isn’t it?” The phrase resonates throughout the final hour of Bates Motel, a series that, unlike many others, became better as the years went by. For the first couple of seasons, the show struggled to find its voice as several subplots and pointless supporting characters made the show feel rather…
Holocaust movies are often tough to watch, be it for the imminent death scenes lurking around the corner or the constant violent, even exploitative, displays of injustice, torture, and overall inhumanity. That said, The Zookeeper’s Wife is the untold story of Antonina Zabinski, a Polish woman whom with her husband, Jan, and young son, Ryszard,…
Biographical films are tough as they tell the story of usually unknown real-life heroes that rose to the occasion and defied the system. Therefore, on one hand, filmmakers feel pressured to honestly present the ‘based-on-a-true-story’ lives that they portray, while, on the other, they must also entertain and please audiences, if only for the sake…