Chris Chiarella

Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 17, 2023  |  0 comments
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Does anyone else miss the glory days of Pixar, when they were cranking out hit after hit, putting story and character above all? This was the era of WALL·E, a film of overwhelming visual and emotional beauty about the last working waste allocation load lifter assigned to Earth cleanup in the distant future. His endearing combination of kindness, a yearning for companionship and an eagerness to find value in all things set the stage for a memorable, nigh-wordless first act wherein he falls for the newly arrived EVE, a very different robot with a very different directive…

Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 03, 2023  |  2 comments
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The problem with writer/director David O. Russell’s most recent outing, Amsterdam, might be summed up as “too many”: too many famous faces cast as too many characters possessing too many quirks to the point that it feels like a great big party for them but rather a chore for us, especially considering the two-hour-plus runtime. Much like his overwrought American Hustle, it combines a fictitious storyline intertwined with historical events, and this time at least it sheds light on some forgotten but worth-remembering chapters from our past.

Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 24, 2023  |  0 comments
In Bruges, 107 mins.
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The Score, 124 mins.
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Tropic Thunder, 107/121 mins.
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The Usual Suspects, 106 mins.
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Boutique label Kino Lorber Studio Classics has been coming on strong the past couple of years, and their recent Ultra HD 4K output has been second to none. With the freedom to work with a variety of studios, they’re amassing an enviable catalog of time-honored films in uncompromising video quality. We spun four of their newest, all utilizing Dolby Vision HDR and proffered on roomy triple-layer 100GB discs. All of them use pre-existing DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks, maintain key legacy bonus features, and also include the movie on freshly minted 1080p Blu-rays.

Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 03, 2023  |  0 comments
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Rather than spoon-feed moviegoers, writer/director Jordan Peele opts to challenge us with his stories, so much so that upon first viewing, I didn't quite grasp what Nope was really about. Yes, a softspoken horse wrangler's father dies suddenly and mysteriously, leaving the future of the struggling generations-old family business—supplying four-hooved stars to show business—in doubt.

Chris Chiarella  |  Jan 22, 2023  |  0 comments
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My fondness for Bob's Burgers extends all the way back to the first episode in 2011. The writing and performances are on par with the very best sitcoms, the animation has a style all its own, and they've kept us hooked on the lovably losery Belcher clan through week after week of uproarious antics.

Chris Chiarella  |  Jan 14, 2023  |  0 comments
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Michael Mann's preeminent crime thriller somehow eluded wide audiences in 1995 but has since become an absolute classic of the genre. As he did with Thief several years prior, the writer/director goes deep into the world of career crooks, imparting specific tricks of the trade while revealing the perpetrators as utterly no-nonsense individuals. We can't dismiss them as heartless—their attempts to establish or maintain relationships yield much of the film's fascinating character drama—yet they are incredibly dangerous, willing to kill without hesitation as needed.

Chris Chiarella  |  Dec 31, 2022  |  0 comments
Reservoir Dogs, 99 mins.
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Pulp Fiction, 155 mins.
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When an immensely talented young screenwriter with something to prove fights to make his movie his way—and wins—every once in a while, we get a Reservoir Dogs. Quentin Tarantino's auspicious directorial debut is rough and raw and all the better for it, the story of a heist gone wrong and the rat in the criminals' midst, with copious amounts of blood spilling and bodies piling up as plans spin wildly out of control.
Chris Chiarella  |  Nov 18, 2022  |  0 comments
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Technically not a "non-stop thrill ride" (it's a classy commuter vehicle so passengers need to board and disembark periodically), Bullet Train is nonetheless a rousing, violent and quite funny adventure. The story moves as fast as the locomotive itself, indulging themes of fate, luck and revenge as an errand boy (Brad Pitt) dealing with a midlife crisis runs afoul of assassins and international crime syndicates, all of them circling a high-value briefcase while the clock counts down to their ultimate destination.
Chris Chiarella  |  Nov 12, 2022  |  1 comments
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Someone once posited that the way to gauge the quality of a sequel is to plot the delta—better or worse—from the movie that spawned it. Employing that metric, Top Gun: Maverick might be the best damned sequel that I've ever seen.
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 28, 2022  |  0 comments
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Chucky, the possessed plaything who would go on to become one of the premier icons of late 20th-Century horror, got his start right here in this 1988 outing. When a dying serial killer with a fondness for the occult transfers his soul into the only vessel available—the hot new talking doll on display at a toy store—little Chuck winds up going home with a single mom and is soon in the hands of a cherubic six-year-old boy.

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