Aviv Alush has a ten-year career as an Israeli actor, but this weekend, his worldwide exposure erupted as he played Jesus onscreen in the adaptation of Paul Young?s The Shack. In the film, a man finds himself invited to discourse with the Trinity, who show up physically with a desire to help the man recover…
A decade ago, I read Paul Young?s novel The Shack, and became intrigued by what I might ask God if I were face-to-face with the Almighty Creator of the Universe. If we’re honest with ourselves, seeing loved ones suffer and die is often the greatest challenge to our faith. For Young, the story revolved around…
While I tend to think of Robert Zemeckis as a comedy/drama director, in the World War II film?Allied, he moves Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard around like chess pieces in a game of cat-and-mouse with dashes of romance thrown in. Like?Mr. and Mrs. Smith?or?Killers, we don’t doubt the passion, but we’re not really sure whose…
Benedict Cumberbatch is everywhere, and I don’t even mind. Sometimes Khan and sometimes Sherlock Holmes, occasionally historic and periodically period piece, Cumberbatch now arrives as the latest name actor to populate the Marvel Universe. As mangled Dr. Stephen Strange, Cumberbatch shines with an American accent, action figure moves, and a magnetic, sardonic sense of vicious…
Created by H. Rider Haggard in 1885, Allan Quatermain was the protagonist of thirteen adventure novels, spanning fifty years of an English-born hunter/adventurer who found an affinity with the people of Africa in their affairs dealing with the English, the Germans, and others. But in the adaptation of?King Solomon’s Mines, Quatermain is slicker, funnier, more…
Hacksaw Ridge?is the extraordinary story of an ordinary man named Desmond Doss. Not gifted with exceptional physical powers, or benefitting from a stellar education, Doss enlisted in the Army during World War II as a conscientious objector, challenging the way that his fellow soldiers saw patriotism, bravery, and honor. Directed by Mel Gibson, Doss’ real-life…
Hailee Steinfeld (Pitch Perfect 2, True Grit) delivers a solidly entertaining performance as a seventeen-year-old struggling with her place in the world. Written, directed, and produced by Kelly Fremon Craig,?The Edge of Seventeen?explores the many factors that have contributed to the state the audience finds Steinfeld’s Nadine at as the film opens: she’s threatening to…
In the complicated adaptation of Ben Fountain’s novel?Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,?Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) returns to the United States a hero, having dragged his sergeant, Shroom (Vin Diesel), out of a firefight. But?his unit is incorrectly labeled “Bravo Squad” by the press seeking a war hero, and they return home to be celebrated at…
In the latest direct-to-DVD animated film by Warner Bros./DC Animated Films, Batman provides the segue from the Justice League to Justice League Dark when a magical assailant invades. Ever the skeptic, Batman (Jason O’Mara) reluctantly recruits John Constantine (Matt Ryan, who plays the character on?Arrow?and in the short-lived, live-action series) thanks to help from some…
Alexander Aja (The Hills Have Eyes,?High Tension,?Horns) is back directing young actors in new ways, here, with a trippy story about a catastrophe-stricken young boy who may have deeper issues in?The 9th Life of Louis Drax.? Louis Drax (Aiden Longworth) mostly tells his own story, with a smattering of other narration viewpoints that may or…
