In this brand-new weekly section, we’ll offer three short reviews of recent films that just might be worth a look. This time around, we look at the latest Denzel Washington action thriller, an Oscar-winning Julianne Moore performance and the third stop-motion adventure from Laika Entertainment (Coraline, Paranorman).
The Equalizer
Action thrillers aren’t typically known for their subtlety, but then again, Denzel Washington’s career has rarely been subdued by genre conventions. In this film adaptation of the 1980s television series, the two-time Oscar winner stars as Robert McCall, a hardware store worker with a dark past. When McCall’s attempt to help a young prostitute (Chloe Grace Moretz) goes awry, he ends up on a quest for vengeance against the Russian mob. The film shares more than few thematic and plot similarities to films like John Wick, but thanks to Washington’s effortless charisma and Antoine Fuqua’s sleek direction, The Equalizer stands up as one of the best films of its kind in recent years. Marton Csokas in particular shines as a villain smart and intimidating enough to stand toe to toe with Washington’s one-man army, while the action scenes are stylish enough to be thrilling and straightforward enough to be believable in the context of the film’s gritty depiction of the criminal underworld. It’s not hard to see why Washington is already signed to return as McCall for his first-ever sequel. Given his first adventure as the character, audiences will likely be clamoring for more as well.
Rating: 4 out of 5
The Equalizer stars Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas and Chloe Grace Moretz. It is directed by Antoine Fuqua.Still Alice
Julianne Moore has been delivering consistently strong performances for so long that it’s hard to believe that she won her first Academy Award for Still Alice, her fifth nominated role. Fittingly, the film works beautifully as a performance piece, with Moore playing a 50-year-old linguistics professor who finds her life unravelling after she is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. In particular, Still Alice chronicles the mental deterioration she faces in the months following her diagnosis, with a central focus on how her condition affects her relationship with her husband (Alec Baldwin) and her adult children. There are some heartbreaking moments in Still Alice, but much like The Theory of Everything (another film about how a severe medical condition wreaks havoc on one’s personal life), the film never quite takes full advantage of its rich material. Told mostly from its protagonist’s perspective, Still Alice doesn’t reflect much of how the family dynamic shifts or the emotional weight that bears on Alice’s loved ones as she continues to lose herself. Yet, for both Moore’s devastating performance and the appropriate reverence with which the film treats its subject matter, Still Alice is a poignant and wholly worthwhile – albeit imperfect – character piece.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Still Alice stars Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish and Shane McRae. It is directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.The Boxtrolls
Laika Entertainment first burst onto the scene with the visually captivating (and genuinely creepy) Coraline in 2009, and while The Boxtrolls – the company’s third stop-motion feature – may not quite reach the innovative heights of that film, it still offers plenty of sly humor and a heartfelt underlying message. Set in the dairy-obsessed Victorian town of Cheesebridge, the film centers on the mystery surrounding a race of subterranean creatures that the townspeople have deemed a threat. However, that belief is called into question when a young boy (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright) raised by the Boxtrolls makes his way to the surface. The film is a quirky delight featuring stellar one-liners and an unforgettable villainous performance by the great Sir Ben Kingsley. In an age where CGI is running more rampant than ever, The Boxtrolls makes a convincing case that stop-motion is still a valuable storytelling tool. Be sure to wait for the mid-credits scene!
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
The Boxtrolls stars the voices of Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris and Dee Bradley Baker. It is directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi.
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