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Post-2016 Maryland Film Festival Coverage, Part 1, for Bmoreart and Hammer to...
Last week, on the Monday before the 2016 Maryland Film Festival, Bmoreart published my preview piece on this year’s offerings. Today’s post is an aggregation of part of my post-festival coverage, for...
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“Reel Talk”– with Chris Reed and Marie Westhaver – on “GreenRoom,”“Keanu” and...
Welcome to the fifth episode of the 2015-2016 season of Dragon Digital Media‘s Reel Talk with Christopher Llewellyn Reed . My guest this time was Marie Westhaver, Howard Community College’s Director of...
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In the Beautiful “A Bigger Splash,” the Bloated Third Act Needs CPR
A Bigger Splash (Luca Guadagnino, 2016) It’s all so interesting … until it isn’t. Italian director Luca Guadagnino, in his first narrative feature since I Am Love, in 2009, has crafted a sumptuously...
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“The Angry Birds Movie” Entertains While Promoting Brand Awareness
The Angry Birds Movie (Clay Kaytis/Fergal Reilly, 2016) I have a confession to make: I have never played Angry Birds. Does this disqualify me from judging the film based on it? I have avoided all kinds...
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Come Back, Shane! The Engaging Mess (and Missed Opportunities) of “The Nice...
The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016) Writer/director Shane Black – known for penning the 1980s blockbuster Lethal Weapon and the 1990s flop The Long Kiss Goodnight (a favorite of mine), among other...
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Destructo Mundo, Magneto! “X-Men: Apocalypse” Does That End-of-the-World...
X-Men: Apocalypse (Bryan Singer, 2016) As the film begins, we hear a familiar, English-accented voice (James McAvoy, aka the younger version of Charles Xavier/Professor X) intone the history of mutants...
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Post-2016 Maryland Film Festival Coverage, Part 2, for Hammer to Nail
I still have some movie reviews and filmmaker interviews from the recent 2016 Maryland Film Festival popping up on Hammer to Nail. Here’s what’s been published since my last MFF post: Review of Hotel...
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Yorgos Lanthimos’“The Lobster” Offers an Intriguing Parable on Love and Dating
The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2015) The Lobster is Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’s fifth theatrical feature. Prior to this, perhaps his best known work was his third film, Dogtooth, in 2009, which...
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“Me Before You”– Better Luck Next Cry
Me Before You (Thea Sharrock, 2016) Thirtysomething Will Traynor has everything going for him: he’s handsome, athletic, insanely rich and gives off that healthy glow that only the best skin products...
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Post-2016 Maryland Film Festival Coverage, Part 3 (of 3), for Hammer to Nail
My final two pieces from the recent 2016 Maryland Film Festival went up on Hammer to Nail this week. Interview with co-directors Livia Ungur & Sherng-Lee Huang (Hotel Dallas) Interview with...
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4 Film Reviews on Hammer to Nail: “Holy Hell,”“The Ones Below,”“The Other...
Over the past two weeks, on top of my remaining coverage of the 2106 Maryland Film Festival, I have written reviews for 4 films currently out in some kind of distribution, all published on Hammer to...
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Interview with Local Filmmaker Dina Fiasconaro on Bmoreart
Earlier this week, my interview with local filmmaker (and my Stevenson colleague) Dina Fiasconaro, about her movie Moms & Meds, go up on Bmoreart. Here is the link. Enjoy!
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Dan Rodricks’ Roughly Speaking Podcast on the Films of Spring and Summer 2016
Today, Linda DeLibero – Director, Film and Media Studies, Johns Hopkins University – and Christopher Llewellyn Reed (that’s me) – Chair and Professor, Department of Film & Moving Image, Stevenson...
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In “The Conjuring 2,” the Power of Christ Doesn’t Quite Compel Us
The Conjuring 2 (James Wan, 2016) Three years ago, Australian director James Wan (Saw) served up The Conjuring, a somewhat tasty – if also deeply silly – morsel of haunted horrordom, starring Patrick...
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Swimming Pays Off: “Finding Dory” Is a Worthy Sequel, If Not As Perfect As...
Finding Dory (Angus MacLane/Andrew Stanton, 2016) Last year, Pixar gave us two new films, both original scripts: Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur. The first was a sublime example of what that company...
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“Central Intelligence” Is Smart About Its Dumb Comedy
Central Intelligence (Rawson Marshall Thurber, 2016) Dwayne Johnson – the former pro wrestler once known as “The Rock” – has, since his film debut, demonstrated a compelling screen presence, which...
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In Powerful “Dheepan,” the Past Is Always with Us
Dheepan (Jacques Audiard, 2015) Dheepan is a man out of place and out of time, adrift in a world not his own. Like a gunfighter in a classic Hollywood Western – Shane comes to mind, most obviously – he...
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From Hammer to Nail: “As I AM: the Life and Time$ of DJ AM,”“Land and...
Over the past two weeks, I once more wrote reviews for 4 films currently out in some kind of distribution, all published on Hammer to Nail. Check them out: As I AM: the Life and Time$ of DJ AM Land and...
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“The Neon Demon” is Beautiful, Bloody and Utterly Vacuous
The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016) O beauty! O torpor! O glory! O pain! Has the world ever seen such an example of positive qualities co-existing with their opposite? Is pulchritude but an...
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7 Nails for One Hammer: Films at AFI DOCS (Part 1) + “Misconception” and...
Over the past two weeks, Hammer to Nail published five reviews I wrote about films at the recent AFI DOCS festival, plus a review of Misconception, which was released in select theaters on June 24,...
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