Godzilla @10: In defense of Gareth Edwards's American Kaiju

by Cláudio Alves

With the triumph of Godzilla Minus One still fresh and the box office success of Godzilla x Kong even fresher, kaiju lovers have reason to rejoice. The king of the monsters is on top as he deserves to be, blasting his atomic breath into the atmosphere as a show of victory. All things considered, there couldn't be a better time to revisit the American Godzilla that revitalized the franchise for a more global audience despite an unfavorable reputation. On its tenth anniversary, it's somewhat surprising how much Gareth Edwards' Godzilla has fallen out of favor. It was never a critical darling, but it feels that the movie has diminished in the collective consciousness. Which is understandable if undeserved…

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Review: ‘Argylle’ is a Lot

By Abe Friedtanzer

I find that going into movies knowing as little as possible is always an advantage, though it can be difficult when something has a big budget and has been relentlessly advertised. Fortunately and perhaps miraculously, all I knew of Argylle before sitting down to watch was the tagline from the billboards I’ve seen plastered all over Los Angeles:

“The greater the spy, the bigger the lie.”

With those expectations, I imagined excess and entertainment, which this film sort of delivers…

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Our Favorite Line Readings of 2018

Every day a new Year in Review round-up as we joyfully bid 2018 adieu...

For today's entry we asked Team Experience and a few of our friends to share their favorite line reading of the year. No one was assigned anything so these are direct from our faces to your faces. Yes, Toni Collette's towering work in Hereditary is on our minds lately. Remember that gem? 

And all I get back is that fucking face on your face."

Or these:

I am your MOTHER." 

I did everything they told me not to do, but it didn't work. I'm happy it didn't work.

So, that was my mom’s life.

God she's extraordinary in that new horror classic, isn't she?

Okay, ready for more actorly gems as actors elevating specific lines or sometimes whole films. Here we go...

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Last Flag Flying: Sizing Up the Vets

By Spencer Coile 

In recent years, Richard Linklater has perfected the art of meandering. This is not an inherently bad quality to his filmmaking. On the contrary, recent efforts such as Before Midnight and Everybody Wants Some!! work so well because their conversations feel genuine,  real conversations happening to real people. The exchangesfeel improvised, even though they are not. When the dialogue works, Linklater captures all of the nuances of a single conversation: big and small. 

Last Flag Flying, the latest entry into Linklater's filmography, works similarly to many of his past projects. After the death of his son, Larry "Doc" Shepherd (Steve Carell) turns to his Vietnam veteran buddies from years past, Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) to travel with him to bury his son...

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Links

Village Voice Bilge Elbiri on a film review that changed his live (J Hoberman's 1992 piece on Orson Welles' Othello) - lovely personal piece
Nick Davis Chicago film festival jury picks and his own precise takes on the movies screened including high profile gems like Call Me By Your Name, and several foreign film Oscar submissions
Esquire Bryan Cranston must be seeking to sabotage his Oscar hopes this year with this admission that he's rooting for Trump to succeed
Huffington Post talks to Melissa Leo about Novitiate and becoming a gay icon with those "Consider..." ads

Another Mag amazing photos of the well decorated sets of Call Me By Your Name
EW Moulin Rouge!'s stage musical adaptation sets its debut for next summer in Boston. Which means we're probably looking at a Broadway transfer and contention for the June 2019 Tonys.
SBS an amazing interview with Katya and Trixie whose new series The Trixie & Katya Show starts real soon
Vanity Fair sits down with still-rising Tessa Thompson about her stereotype defying career
Esquire jumps on the "give I, Tonya Oscars" bandwagon. I tell you what dear readers, the ease with which this movie is getting people excited when I though it was genuinely not good (mockumentary stale, politically problematic, and cheap-looking) is going to make this Oscar season a loooong one for me (sigh). Ah well. You can't love everything... or every Oscar season.