I was rather impressed with DEN OF THIEVES. It's a complex, cognitive cops and robbers tale. It thoroughly takes its times establishing the worlds and lives of the lead cops and the lead robbers, sending the film to runtime of 140 minutes. And along with its attempt at some measure of realism, the obvious comp to DEN OF THIEVES is Michael Mann's 1995 masterheist-flick HEAT.

DEN OF THIEVES is good, but it's no HEAT--more of a comfortable LUKEWARMTH, if I…

Brandon Cronenberg's debut is a powerful debut. It's moody, highly visual, and idea-riddled. It even has some unique and specific bio-tech horror imagery that would fit right into the Cronenberg family film brand--if that were a thing. I shall not dwell on thematic links to his dad's filmography because I think that B.Cronenberg is an expressive storyteller with his own distinct voice (despite such a similar film world as some of his dad's work--and not just Telefilm Canada and the…

With all of its production value, gimmicky roving camera, and (falsely advertised) real-time narrative, 1917 is impressive to experience, but honestly is a little light on an emotional core. George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman lack the weight, it seems, to make me care about them. Honestly, the long, 'look-at-me' shots have such forward momentum and 'what's next' drama, the audience never really gets a moment to slow down and get to know these young soldiers. And, that's what I think…

To me, what makes Christopher Nolan an exciting director is his ability to manipulate familiar movie beats into a fresh narrative--often, a very fresh narrative. MEMENTO takes what could have been a normal-ish thriller and eloquently tells it backward. THE PRESTIGE, in its own way, ups the ante on the Shyamalan era of twist-thrillers. BATMAN BEGINS re-narrates superhero films as stories that feel more naturalistic and real-world. DARK KNIGHT puts super heroes in a real-world pit of terrorist ideology and…