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If “A Monster Calls,” You Should Answer
A Monster Calls (J.A. Bayona, 2016) In his introduction to the 2011 book on which this movie is based, author Patrick Ness (The Chaos Walking series) pays tribute to the late children’s author Siobhan...
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Mr. Reed’s Metaphysical Neighborhood Presents the Best Film Acting of 2016
What follows is a list of what I consider the best acting in films released in 2016. On December 31, 2016, I published my list of best (and worst) films of the year, and most actors in most of the...
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5 Reviews @hammertonail: “The Ardennes,”“Dr. Feelgood,”“Pet Fooled” +...
Here are five new posts of mine at Hammer to Nail: The Ardennes, a Belgian crime drama that pits brother against brother; Dr. Feelgood: Dealer or Healer?, a documentary about the battle over...
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3 Recent “BmoreArt” Articles: Maryland Film Festival’s “Between the Screens”...
In November, BmoreArt published my first-ever print article – an interview with famed local filmmaker John Waters – in its third print edition (which you can buy at this link). Since then, the...
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“Reel Talk”– with Chris Reed and Roxana Hadadi – on “Hidden...
Christopher Llewellyn Reed, “Reel Talk” host, w/ Roxana Hadadi, film critic for “Chesapeake Family” Welcome to the third episode of the 2016-2017 season of Dragon Digital Media‘s Reel Talk with...
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“Patriots Day” Pays Effective Tribute to Boston in the Aftermath of Tragedy
[This review will also post on Film Festival Today, and when it does, I will post a link here.] Patriots Day (Peter Berg, 2016) A taut procedural about the investigation following the 2013 Boston...
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“Silence” Is a Powerful, If Long, Elegy to Faith and Meaning
Silence (Martin Scorsese, 2016) Though possibly an hour too long, Martin Scorsese’s Silence – a monumental testament to the power and ravages of religious faith – is the director’s best work in years....
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@DanRodricks @RoughlySpeaking on “Hidden Figures,”“A Monster Calls,”“Patriots...
On today’s edition of Dan Rodricks’ Roughly Speaking podcast for The Baltimore Sun, we discussed four films currently in cinemas – Hidden Figures, A Monster Calls, Patriots Day, and Silence – as well...
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In Marvelous “20th Century Women,” a Boy Becomes a Feminist
20th Century Women (Mike Mills, 2016) Halfway through 20th Century Women, I asked myself if the film would pass the Bechdel test, that (somewhat) tongue-in-cheek method of analyzing movies based on...
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Rodricks, Reed and DeLibero on 2017 Oscar Nominations
Yesterday, 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,...
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Mostly Fools in This “Gold”
Gold (Stephen Gaghan, 2016) It probably seemed like a good idea: take a real-life scandal, add stars, and the rest will follow. Let’s start with the first part. In the mid-1990s, a Canadian mining...
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A Beautiful Confection, “Julieta” is Lovely to Look At, Unsatisfying to Consume
Julieta (Pedro Almodóvar, 2016) Beautifully designed and shot, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, Julieta, starts out with a delicious frisson of mystery that quickly flattens into tedium. It’s...
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Mr. Reed’s Metaphysical Neighborhood Presents the Best Technical and Artistic...
On Tuesday, January 24, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced the 2017 Oscar nominees. Three days later, I am finally getting around to finishing up my own lists of favorites from...
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Keep Your Distance from “The Space Between Us”
The Space Between Us (Peter Chelsea, 2016) A well-intentioned, but ultimately ridiculous, clumsy and inept film, The Space Between Us tries its darnedest to convince us of the logic behind its...
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“Toni Erdmann” Plays the Long Game and Wins
[This review will also post on Film Festival Today, and when it does, I will link to that review here.] Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016) At 162 minutes, German director Maren Ade’s latest film, Toni...
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All 10 of My @hammertonail @slamdance @sundancefest Film Reviews
Here are the 10 reviews from my remote coverage of the recent Slamdance and Sundance film festivals, written for Hammer to Nail. I couldn’t attend, but I was able to watch some great movies,...
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3 @hammertonail reviews: “I Am Not Your Negro,”“Landfill Harmonic” and...
Here are 3 recents reviews of mine for Hammer to Nail: I Am Not Your Negro, a new documentary (just nominated for an Academy Award) about James Baldwin; Landfill Harmonic, a documentary about children...
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“The LEGO Batman Movie” Assembles Cinematic Pleasures of the Commercial Kind
The LEGO Batman Movie (Chris McKay, 2017) I loved The LEGO Movie, and one of the great snubs of the 2015 Oscar nominations was the omission of that film from the list of contenders for best animated...
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In “John Wick: Chapter 2,” Our Hitman Loses His Way in Excessive Carnage
[This review will also post on Film Festival Today, and when it does, I will link to it here.] John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chad Stahelski, 2017) The first John Wick film, released in 2014, offered up many...
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“Fist Fight” Offers Occasionally Amusing, If Banal, Entertainment
Fist Fight (Richie Keen, 2017) What story there is in Fist Fight centers around budget cuts at a smallish public high school, which result in general anomie. The last day of the school year arrives,...
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