As surely as the ball drops in Times Square, the beginning of every new year always yields a new movie in which Liam Neeson is armed and wronged, which brings us to 2021 and “The Marksman.”
Granted, Neeson’s reign as an action hero of a certain age has yielded at least one genuinely worthwhile film (“The Grey”) alongside some delightfully trashy collaborations with director Jaume Collet-Serra. “The Marksman,” alas, plods along without any sense of vitality or absurdity; director and co-writer Robert Lorenz (“Trouble With the Curve”) has spent much of his career working almost exclusively with Clint Eastwood, so it’s not a stretch to surmise that this vehicle was crafted to follow in the well-worn path of “Gran Torino” and “The Mule.”
Neeson certainly brings more warmth and empathy to the character, but the film itself plays like an amalgam of action-movie clichés (drink every time someone says “the cartel”), with some too-little,...
Granted, Neeson’s reign as an action hero of a certain age has yielded at least one genuinely worthwhile film (“The Grey”) alongside some delightfully trashy collaborations with director Jaume Collet-Serra. “The Marksman,” alas, plods along without any sense of vitality or absurdity; director and co-writer Robert Lorenz (“Trouble With the Curve”) has spent much of his career working almost exclusively with Clint Eastwood, so it’s not a stretch to surmise that this vehicle was crafted to follow in the well-worn path of “Gran Torino” and “The Mule.”
Neeson certainly brings more warmth and empathy to the character, but the film itself plays like an amalgam of action-movie clichés (drink every time someone says “the cartel”), with some too-little,...
- 1/12/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
“Pennyworth” premiered on Epix over the summer, flashing back to the formative years of future “Batman” butler extraordinaire Alfred Pennyworth (played here by Jack Bannon). That DC Comics connection makes it one of the highest profile shows this year for the premium cable outlet, and it has been renewed for a second season. But it’s not the first “Batman” prequel to grace TV screens. Fox’s “Gotham,” which recently wrapped after five seasons, explored the title city from the point of view of future commissioner Jim Gordon. Could “Pennyworth” follow in its awards footsteps?
“Gotham” was never nominated for Best Drama Series by major industry groups, but its technical accomplishments were frequently recognized. The series premiered in the fall of 2014, and in its first awards season it earned one bid apiece from the Art Directors Guild and the Motion Picture Sound Editors, plus two nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers...
“Gotham” was never nominated for Best Drama Series by major industry groups, but its technical accomplishments were frequently recognized. The series premiered in the fall of 2014, and in its first awards season it earned one bid apiece from the Art Directors Guild and the Motion Picture Sound Editors, plus two nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers...
- 11/6/2019
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Sci-Fi and Comic Book Shows Are Getting Serious Awards Attention: How Bold DPs are Changing the Race
Call them the Dp disruptors: “Legion,” “Stranger Things,” “Westworld,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Taboo.” It’s one thing to be for cinematography to be cinematic, but quite another to provoke. Here’s a look at the cinematography that was used to explore the impacts of tyranny and hate, of societies turned upside down and against humanity.
“Legion”
After re-imagining “Fargo” as a nightmarish crime anthology, Noah Hawley stripped the superhero iconography out of Marvel’s “Legion” by concentrating on schizophrenia and paranoia. Dan Stevens’ troubled mutant, David Haller, proves to be an unreliable narrator, unable to grasp the difference between reality and imagination, who meets the girl of his dreams (Rachel Keller) in a mental hospital and discovers that his psychological instability is a result of special telepathic power.
Cinematographer Dana Gonzales (“Fargo”) liked a story that demanded a shift from naturalistic to heightened. “And there’s a love...
“Legion”
After re-imagining “Fargo” as a nightmarish crime anthology, Noah Hawley stripped the superhero iconography out of Marvel’s “Legion” by concentrating on schizophrenia and paranoia. Dan Stevens’ troubled mutant, David Haller, proves to be an unreliable narrator, unable to grasp the difference between reality and imagination, who meets the girl of his dreams (Rachel Keller) in a mental hospital and discovers that his psychological instability is a result of special telepathic power.
Cinematographer Dana Gonzales (“Fargo”) liked a story that demanded a shift from naturalistic to heightened. “And there’s a love...
- 5/26/2017
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Louisa Mellor Feb 18, 2017
Taboo’s lead character remains the frustrating blank space at the centre of an otherwise appealing show…
This review contains spoilers.
See related Bethesda explains why Doom 4 was scrapped
For weeks I’ve waited to see James Delaney on the back foot - to watch him put under enough pressure that he finally cracks and reveals the human being inside that inscrutable outer shell. Goodbye to that hope. If twelve hours of torture in the Tower of London doesn’t break Delaney, nothing will. Cuts and bruises aside, he remained as in-control and unreadable in the torturer’s chair as he’s been since he landed in London. In-control, unreadable and sadly, dull.
Taboo’s lead is its weakest link. Somehow under and over-written at the same time, Delaney is all over the place. Are we supposed to love him? Hate him? Love to hate him? Aiming for moral complexity,...
Taboo’s lead character remains the frustrating blank space at the centre of an otherwise appealing show…
This review contains spoilers.
See related Bethesda explains why Doom 4 was scrapped
For weeks I’ve waited to see James Delaney on the back foot - to watch him put under enough pressure that he finally cracks and reveals the human being inside that inscrutable outer shell. Goodbye to that hope. If twelve hours of torture in the Tower of London doesn’t break Delaney, nothing will. Cuts and bruises aside, he remained as in-control and unreadable in the torturer’s chair as he’s been since he landed in London. In-control, unreadable and sadly, dull.
Taboo’s lead is its weakest link. Somehow under and over-written at the same time, Delaney is all over the place. Are we supposed to love him? Hate him? Love to hate him? Aiming for moral complexity,...
- 2/16/2017
- Den of Geek
Ryan Lambie Published Date Friday, September 2, 2016 - 17:36
Wears a hoodie. Plays her music at an excruciatingly high volume. Fed up of being cooped up indoors. Glowers at authority figures with simmering hostility. Yes, Morgan’s just your average teenager, really - apart from the small detail that she’s a genetically-engineered super-being with powers of precognition and an unaccountable affinity for martial arts.
Morgan, played with pleasing intensity by Anya-Taylor Joy, resides behind bullet-proof perspex in a concrete bunker deep underground. Created for hazy purposes by a futuristic corporation, Morgan’s only five years old, but her rapid rate of growth means she looks much older. Over those five years, the scientists charged with looking after and monitoring Morgan have formed an emotional attachment to the super-powered youth; among them you’ll find Dr Simon Ziegler (Toby Jones), her surrogate father figure, and Amy (Rose Leslie), who becomes a kind of big sister.
Wears a hoodie. Plays her music at an excruciatingly high volume. Fed up of being cooped up indoors. Glowers at authority figures with simmering hostility. Yes, Morgan’s just your average teenager, really - apart from the small detail that she’s a genetically-engineered super-being with powers of precognition and an unaccountable affinity for martial arts.
Morgan, played with pleasing intensity by Anya-Taylor Joy, resides behind bullet-proof perspex in a concrete bunker deep underground. Created for hazy purposes by a futuristic corporation, Morgan’s only five years old, but her rapid rate of growth means she looks much older. Over those five years, the scientists charged with looking after and monitoring Morgan have formed an emotional attachment to the super-powered youth; among them you’ll find Dr Simon Ziegler (Toby Jones), her surrogate father figure, and Amy (Rose Leslie), who becomes a kind of big sister.
- 9/2/2016
- Den of Geek
The question of the existence of a soul has been one of the prevailing interests of modern science-fiction cinema. Films like Ex Machina, Her, Upstream Color, and now Luke Scott’s debut, Morgan, have have all prodded at the subject, keeping pace with societal paranoia about the obsolescence of humanity. This is far from a new idea. After all, the director’s own father, Ridley Scott, was exploring the Turing test more than three decades ago. But Morgan is worthy of conversation not for its achievements, but rather the way its failures and generalities characterize how far the genre has come.
Artificial intelligence is no longer the final frontier and Seth W. Owen’s script doesn’t just recognize that A.I’s are being made, it talks about previous models that didn’t live up to expectations. Modern sci-fi has moved past the point of pure invention to a goal of exceptionalism.
Artificial intelligence is no longer the final frontier and Seth W. Owen’s script doesn’t just recognize that A.I’s are being made, it talks about previous models that didn’t live up to expectations. Modern sci-fi has moved past the point of pure invention to a goal of exceptionalism.
- 8/30/2016
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
If Morgan were a Crayola crayon, it’s cutesy name would be “Cement Mixer Grey.” If it were a culinary dish, it’d be a baked potato without a single topping (not even accidental ketchup drips from an overloaded hot dog). If it were a cinematic endeavor – which it is – Luke Scott’s sci-fi thriller would be a lazy, knee-jerk response to Ex Machina‘s provocative brilliance, relentless in its genre irreverence. There’s a time and a place for a such drab thrills like this, and they’re best enjoyed in small television bites while you glance up from your daily chores. They’re background noise at best, never striving to break its predictable mold.
Young Anya Taylor-Joy stars a Morgan, an artificial lifeform being studied and raised in an isolated, backwoods laboratory. Under the guidance of Dr. Lui Cheng’s (Michelle Yeoh) devoted team of researchers, Morgan – an...
Young Anya Taylor-Joy stars a Morgan, an artificial lifeform being studied and raised in an isolated, backwoods laboratory. Under the guidance of Dr. Lui Cheng’s (Michelle Yeoh) devoted team of researchers, Morgan – an...
- 8/30/2016
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
TV drama reunites Tom Hardy with Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Locke).
Drama series Taboo, starring Tom Hardy, is to begin filming in London this week and new additions to the cast have been revealed.
The eight-part drama series has been created by Steven Knight, who previously worked with Hardy on TV series Peaky Blinders and feature Locke, and isdirected by Kristoffer Nyholm (Danish TV series The Killing, The Enfield Haunting) for BBC One and FX.
Hardy plays James Keziah Delaney who returns to 1814 London after 10 years in Africa to discover that he has been left a mysterious legacy by his father. Driven to wage war on those who have wronged him, Delaney finds himself in a face-off against the East India Company, whilst playing a dangerous game between two warring nations – Britain and America.
Alongside Hardy’s protagonist is Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Everest), who plays Us doctor Dumbarton, Jonathan Pryce (Pirates...
Drama series Taboo, starring Tom Hardy, is to begin filming in London this week and new additions to the cast have been revealed.
The eight-part drama series has been created by Steven Knight, who previously worked with Hardy on TV series Peaky Blinders and feature Locke, and isdirected by Kristoffer Nyholm (Danish TV series The Killing, The Enfield Haunting) for BBC One and FX.
Hardy plays James Keziah Delaney who returns to 1814 London after 10 years in Africa to discover that he has been left a mysterious legacy by his father. Driven to wage war on those who have wronged him, Delaney finds himself in a face-off against the East India Company, whilst playing a dangerous game between two warring nations – Britain and America.
Alongside Hardy’s protagonist is Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Everest), who plays Us doctor Dumbarton, Jonathan Pryce (Pirates...
- 11/23/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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