E. Nielson

SWISS ARMY MAN (2016)

Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan directed this highly odd but rather unique film from their own original screenplay. Paul Dano plays a suicidal man who finds redemption upon finding a flatulent corpse played by Daniel Radcliffe, who gradually comes back to life and gives him reason to hope to keep on living. Obviously not a film for everyone and frankly not meant to be, it never the less presents a unique storyline and perspective that seems to be a combination of WEEKEND AT

THE INFILTRATOR (2016)

Brad Furman directed this film from a screenplay by Ellen Brown Furman based on the autobiographical book THE INFILTRATOR by Robert Mazur detailing his efforts as a U.S. Customs special agent to bring down Pablo Escobar’s drug empire, specifically his money laundering operations. This film shows the toll taken on him and his family, particularly his wife and the fellow agents involved, since they are required to live double lives, sometime getting emotionally involved with th

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (2016)

Matt Ross directed this film from his own original screenplay about a father with six children who chooses to raise them off the grid in the Pacific Northwest, while schooling them in the arts, mathematics, free thinking and wilderness survival among many things. With his wife away in a mental hospital battling bi-polar disorder, she commits suicide, prompting him to take his children to the funeral that his wealthy, estranged father-in-law is preparing in New Mexico. Though

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (2016)

Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney directed this animated film from a screenplay by Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio which seems to be more a collection of very clever sequences as opposed to melding its storyline into a cohesive whole. I enjoyed the way it started with its panoramic view of New York City and a snappy song by Taylor Swift but once the owners leave their pets alone for the day in order to go to work, I felt the story seemed to lose itself. The picture has a n

MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES (2016)

Jake Szymanski directed this misbegotten film from a screenplay by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien which will be remembered more for the utter waste it makes of the talent involved in a script that soars at times but too often misfires. In its attempt to tell the story of two “thirty something” men who can’t seem to get beyond the mentality of sixteen year old boys, it too often stoops to the lowest common denominator then suddenly redeems itself, which makes for a very d

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016)

David Yates directed this wonderful film from a screenplay by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer based on the novel TARZAN by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Without compromising any of the plot I will say that even if you never liked any of the previous Tarzan incarnations you will probably like this movie. It’s an epic in every sense of the word, a kind of hybrid of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA that has an intelligent script, stunning photography (with six weeks of locatio

THE BFG (2016)

Steven Spielberg directed this film from a screenplay by Melissa Mathison (the writer of E.T.) from a book of the same name by Roald Dahl about a Giant who befriends a little orphan girl. To say this film doesn’t quite work some of the time but sails through other scenes seamlessly is its real problem in its over all execution. I think that perhaps if they’d used less CGI (computer graphics imagery) and more practical effects, such as simply using the real actors in elaborate

OUR KIND OF TRAITOR (2016)

Susanna White directed this brilliant adaptation of the John Le Carre novel of the same name with a screenplay by Hossein Amini. Filmed in Morocco, France, Switzerland, Finland and England it manages to achieve its thrilling and fast paced story telling with a limited amount of violence and good old fashioned filmmaking in the style of David Lean. I can’t begin to endorse this grand piece of filmmaking enough and how an innocent couple gets caught up in doing the right thing

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR (2016)

James DeMonaco directed and wrote this film which is the third in THE PURGE series, which is a type of science fiction, social action, horror thriller that imagines a society where for one night a year no crime is against the law, including murder. In this third installation, there is a growing movement to abolish the practice, since the toll taken on society is devastating, with the poor and disenfranchised paying the dearest price. Lead by presidential candidate, Senator Ch

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