‘THE CRITIC’ (2024) When the stage meets screen and the villain rules all.

greenwich ent logoTHE CRITIC

the Critic poster

Years of notoriously harsh criticism result in a pending forced retirement for Jimmy Erskine, chief drama critic for The Daily Chronicle. When the end of his career and one actress’ daring confrontation change his life, a stealth proposition takes advantage of weak hearts. THE CRITIC manipulates the audience in a way that is bold and devastating.

the Critic ian and gemmaLush cinematography and lighting immediately draw you into the narrative alongside McKellen’s iconic voice. From the costumes to the jewel-toned sets, it’s a period drama fans dream.

Mark Strong delivers a heart-wrenching performance as David Brooke. His palpable vulnerability pours off the screen. He is captivating. Gemma Arterton gives Nina Land noble fierceness matching McKellen’s presence. Like most of us with the acting big hardwired into our DNA, Nina seeks approval. But her adoration from Erskine comes with a caveat: seduce the paper’s new proprietor in return for rave reviews.

The Critic stillSir Ian McKellen is vicious and brilliant. Playing Jimmy Erskine, he is a rather vile curmudgeon who revels in taking down enthusiastic artists and their work. Jimmy is an unapologetic diva. The fear he leaves in his wake destroys careers with the stroke of his pen. McKellen succeeds in making audiences adore a genuine villain.

Director Anand Tucker and writer Patrick Marber skillfully steal the plots of Nina’s stage versions for Erskine’s personal use. Shakespeare would love Jimmy Erskine. Audiences will love to hate him. “The plays the thing,” as they say. THE CRITIC is the epitome of this very notion.


The Critic Trailer:



In Theaters September 13, 2024!


Directed By: Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie, Shopgirl)

Written by: Patrick Marber (Closer, Notes on a Scandal)

Starring: Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, Gods and Monsters), Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Byzantium), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone), Alfred Enoch (Harry Potter), Romola Garai (One Life), and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)

Produced by: Jolyon Symonds, Bill Kenwright and David Gilbery

Executive Produced by: Mark Gordon, Zygi Kamasa, Naomi George, Tom Butterfield and Harry White



London, 1934. Jimmy Erskine (McKellen) is the most feared theatre critic of the age. He lives as flamboyantly as he writes and takes pleasure in savagely taking down any actor who fails to meet his standards. When the owner of the Daily Chronicle newspaper dies, and his son David Brooke (Strong) takes over, Jimmy quickly finds himself at odds with his new boss and his position under threat. In an attempt to preserve the power and influence he holds so sacred, Jimmy strikes a faustian pact with struggling actress Nina Land (Arterton), entangling them and Brooke in a thrilling but deadly web of desire, blackmail and betrayal.

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Review: In theaters today, Eva Green and Chai Fonacia star in ‘NOCEBO,’ a mysterious revenge horror mixing ethics and folk healing.

NOCEBO

In NOCEBO, a fashion designer (Eva Green) suffers from a mysterious illness that confounds her doctors and frustrates her husband (Mark Strong) – until help arrives in the form of a Filipino nanny (Chai Fonacier) who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.


After a mysterious phone call and a simultaneous encounter with a mangy dog riddled with ticks, Christine’s physical and mental health rapidly declines. Suffering from sleep apnea, nightmares, forgetfulness, and sharp, debilitating pains at any given moment, her already vulnerable marriage and successful fashion design career teeter on the edge of destruction. When Filipina Nanny Diana arrives at her door, Christine does not recall sending for her, but the extra set of hands proves life-changing, for better or worse.

Diana’s integration into the family lands somewhere between awkward and essential. Husband Felix and young daughter Roberta (they call her Bobs) are caught in the middle, allowing for gaslighting from Felix and growing distrust from Bobs. Add in the class distinction with Christine and her family living in a lavish mansion, while Diana arrives with nothing but a single suitcase, mostly filled not with clothing. Writer-director Lorcan Finnegan utilizes flashbacks of Diana’s life to illustrate the glaring contrast. Little by little, the audience begins to piece things together, but not before being disturbed by the effects of Diana’s folk healing methods.

Finnegan uses the color red in many specific instances; lipstick, curtains, and, most impactfully, Christine’s lucky shoes. The color is a sumptuous visual punch set against the mostly jewel-toned house. Finnegan understands the assignment.

As the story progresses and the truth reveals itself, your view of each character shifts. Eva Green plays Chrissy with both a manic and ruthless angle. She is a master at living inside the skin of a character, and Christine is no exception. Chai Fonacier is Diana. This juicy role allows us to see Fonacier’s massive range. I would watch her in all the things, as they say.

Radek Ladczuk‘s cinematography, which I loved in Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook and The Nightingale, is just as emotionally jarring in both overt and subtle forms. The closeups of hands, small objects, and facial features pull the audience into the overall mystery of Christine’s ailment and the impact of her family.

*********The next paragraph has a bit of a spoiler. Skip it to keep the mystery intact!*********

*******SPOILER ALERT*******

In the credits, just after the music tracks, I noticed bold text reading, “Justice for all Kentex workers.” A quick Google search led me to a story from 2015 in Manila in which a factory fire killed 72 factory workers after they were trapped on the second floor. Metal grates on the windows prevented them from escaping a horrifying death. We have heard so many of these same stories of unsafe sweatshop conditions. NOCEBO I pulls directly from the 2015 tragedy, making the film all the more terrorizing.

****** End Of Spoiler Info******

NOCEBO boasts a jaw-dropping and shockingly dark finale. Mixing folklore and revenge horror never miss. The term “nocebo” comes from the Latin to harm. The Oxford definition reads: “a detrimental effect on health produced by psychological or psychosomatic factors such as negative expectations of treatment or prognosis.” Finnegan slickly lulls you into one genre, then pulls the rug out from underneath us. The truth will either set you free or destroy you. NOCEBO is here to remind us all.


RLJE Films will release NOCEBO in theaters on Nov. 4, 2022 and on Demand and Digital on Nov. 22, 2022. The film will stream on Shudder at a later date.



Directed by Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium) and written by Garret Shanley (Without Name), NOCEBO stars Eva Green (Casino Royale), Mark Strong (1917), Chai Fonacier (Jesus Is Dead) and Billie Gadsdon (Cruella).





Review: ‘The Catcher Was A Spy’ is crackerjack film.

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Presents
THE CATCHER WAS A SPY
*Official Selection of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival*

In Theaters and On Demand June 22, 2018

The Catcher Was a Spy tells the true story of Morris “Moe” Berg (Paul Rudd), the Major League Baseball player, Ivy League graduate, attorney and top-secret spy who helped the U.S. defeat Nazi Germany in the race to build the atomic bomb.

Paul Rudd gives a stunning performance as the real-life and incredibly enigmatic “Moe” Berg. A former catcher for The Boston Red Sox, a Princeton grad, and all-around genius of a man, Berg speaks 7 languages and has the guts to take on a mission to save the world. Rudd, someone who has a natural talent for improvisation and making us laugh until we pee ourselves, carries this dramatic film like a true movie star. While his Ant-Man training certainly came in handy for this particular role, playing Berg is further proof that Rudd is underutilized outside his typical comedic fare. More dramatic roles could boost him into award season regular status. The complexities of this man are not lost in the complicated narrative of history. Three cheers to the writers on that front. The superb editing heightens the action and intrigue that leaves the viewer fully engrossed. The film easily captures what might seem like a crazy premise, use a former baseball player as a spy, until you are let into the eccentric and bold mind of Moe Berg. With striking sets and costumes and alongside a massively hard-hitting cast (the likes of Jeff Daniels, Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Hiroyuki Sanada)The Catcher Was A Spy is an exciting historical period drama that delves into one of the most unique stories of the WWII era.

Starring
Paul Rudd, Jeff Daniels, Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, 
Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Hiroyuki Sanada

Directed by Ben Lewin (The Sessions)
Written by Robert Rodat (Academy Award Nominee, Saving Private Ryan)
Score by Howard Shore (Academy Award Winner, Lord of the Ring series, Hugo)

Michael’s Review: ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’- A New Generation of Spy Film

Kingsman

One of the things that makes a Matthew Vaughn movie an event is the stylistic nature of his interpretation of the source material and his knack for creating a unique movie experience that everyone can enjoy. Taking from the comic book The Secret Service, created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar (Vaughn previously adapted Millar’s Kick Ass for the screen), this up tempo, high powered action film is exactly the adrenaline jolt that the spy sction thriller genre needed. Enlisting an all star supporting cast and mixing them with a group of fresh faces creates an environment on film that enables the director to get the very best out of the story which will no doubt make Kingsman: The Secret Service the movie to see this weekend.

colin firth

Colin Firth stars as Harry, an impeccably suave spy, in KINGSMAN THE SECRET SERVICE.

Colin Firth plays Harry Hart, an old school super spy, reminiscent of the old Roger Moore James Bond days, where a suit was more powerful than the weapon in the eyes of the man. When the loss of a protege on a mission leaves Harry carrying a guilt that has haunted him for nearly two decades, his natural tendency is to reach out to the man’s family and make sure they are looked after. Leaving behind a wife and a young boy named Eggsy, Harry leaves a medal with the young family with a number to call if they ever need anything from the organization.

Harry (Colin Firth), an impeccably suave spy, helps Eggsy (Taron Egerton) turn his life around by trying out for a position with Kingsman, a top-secret independent intelligence organization.

Harry (Colin Firth), an impeccably suave spy, helps Eggsy (Taron Egerton) turn his life around by trying out for a position with Kingsman, a top-secret independent intelligence organization.

Now a young man, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) has lost his way and has turned to a life of crime and hooliganism. His mom has remarried to a town crime boss and life has never been worse for the young man. After an altercation in a local pub leaves Eggsy in jail, he decides to call the number his family was given all those years ago. Harry and Eggsy meet once again after all these years and Harry recruits the young man into the Kingsman, an mSpy secret agency free of government regulations. Eggsy is selected along with eight other young prospects, who must pass a vigorous training regiment which will test them both physically and mentally. One of the young recruits is a girl named Roxy (Sophie Cookson), whom Eggsy becomes fond of. The training is overseen by Merlin (Mark Strong) and Arthur (Michael Caine), each of whom have their own vested interest in the candidates.

Harry (Colin Firth), an impeccably suave spy, helps Eggsy (Taron Egerton) turn his life around by trying out for a position with Kingsman, a top-secret independent intelligence organization.

Harry (Colin Firth), an impeccably suave spy, helps Eggsy (Taron Egerton) turn his life around by trying out for a position with Kingsman, a top-secret independent intelligence organization.

When a technology tycoon named Richmond Valentine (Samuel L Jackson), becomes a threat, the Kingsman begin to investigate the aspiring philanthropists actions. Deeming him a threat to the world, Harry must go deep undercover to infiltrate Valentine’s organization and learn the true nature of his plan. As the training comes to a close, it’s up to Eggsy and Roxy to make hard decisions, in the final stages, to ensure their place in the Kingsman organization. As the plot of the tech villain unfolds, it will be up to the young group of recruits to spoil the plot, but will the unseasoned rookies be up to the task? The fate of the world is in the hands of the Kingsman.

Harry (Colin Firth) and Eggsy (Taron Egerton) meet Richard Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a tech billionaire with devastating plans for the world.

Harry (Colin Firth) and Eggsy (Taron Egerton) meet Richard Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a tech billionaire with devastating plans for the world.

The film is a non stop action thrill ride which never takes itself too seriously. The campy nature of the film allows the over the top story line to unfold with ease and never allows for the cliche’s to engulf the fun nature of the film. Director Matthew Vaughn loves to incorporate stylistic action sequences into his films which are both memorable and as important to the telling of the story as the script itself. This action driven film really relies on the actors to flush out the story and help the audience believe in their characters arcs. Colin Firth is wonderful as the old school super spy. Never have I seen the award winning actor in such an action packed role, but he pulled it off with ease and has shown he can be just as effective with his fists as he can with his mouth. The supporting cast that features Mark Strong, Mark Hamill, Michael Caine, and Sophie Cookson, is tremendous and each character adds his or her own unique style into the film, but its Taron Egerton that is the star of this film and rightfully so. Egerton is humorous and charming as the would be Kingsman, and the young actor shows veteran prowess in his first feature film and shows he is ready for the big time.

Harry (Colin Firth), an elite member of a top-secret independent intelligence organization known as the Kingsman, prepares to teach some ruffians a lesson.

Harry (Colin Firth), an elite member of a top-secret independent intelligence organization known as the Kingsman, prepares to teach some ruffians a lesson.

Overall, Kingsman: The Secret Service is wonderful and will no doubt entertain all those who give it a shot. Nevermind that other film opening this weekend, this Valentine’s Day, spend your evening with the Kingsman!

Stars:

4 out of 5

After Credit Scene?

During credits there’s a new scene, end of credits there is nothing

Trailer:

Michael’s Review: ‘The Imitation Game’- This is One Game You Must See to Believe

TIG BENEDICT POSTER FINAL.indd

Alan Turing was a key figure in helping the allies win World War II. Known for his expertise as a mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and philosopher, he was a pioneering computer scientist who created the template for what would become the computers we use today. However, his accomplishments were never publicly known due to his criminal prosecution for being a homosexual. Read More →