Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Widows

I was admittedly curious to witness Steve McQueen’s approach to Widows. For my money, Steve McQueen is one of the finest filmmakers we have. He’s responsible for two movie masterpieces (Hunger and Shame), and the finest cinematic narrative document about American slavery (12 Years a Slave). Why then, I carefully wondered, would he embark on such a conventional genre like the heist thriller?

Upon seeing Widows, which is based on a British television series from the ‘80s, the answer was obvious: In order to avoid the conventions of the heist film, McQueen abandons them and creates his own unique narrative.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Reviews: 2018 Netflix Films

Netflix is determined to change the way we watch movies. According to Forbes, Netflix spent $13 billion on original content in 2018. And while most of that is for a seemingly endless string of new TV shows, Netflix seems poised to finally throw their weight toward major movies.

On the eve of Netflix dropping potential heavy-hitters like The Other Side of the Wind (which was released a few days), Outlaw King, Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and Roma, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at some recent notable releases.