Inherent Vice
Director Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, Magnolia) takes on Thomas Pynchon’s novel of the same name about a bunch of crazy characters, including an ex-private eye and a billionaire developer. The movie has an all-star cast, including Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, and more.
Perfect For: You like epic, sprawling, dramas with lots of big actors and wild, unhinged plots. PTA isn’t for the faint of heart.
What the Critics Say: Mixed bag. He overshoots sometimes. Writes the AP: “Despite the film's frustrations, it must be acknowledged that Anderson -- a master of the multi-strand, multi-character, multi-meaning plot -- is the perfect director to adapt Pynchon, in terms of both craft and spirit.”
Our Take: A flawed PTA movie is better than most people’s worst efforts. See it.
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Taken 3
Liam Neeson probably never thought he’d be doing this at this point in his career. The erudite actor, who was best known for Schlinder’s List, has evolved into an action hero. The transformation is so successful and so complete that he’s now starring in his third iteration of the Taken series (which, you figured out, features a family member being taken from his house and him searching for them and their kidnappers). That this happens three times to the same family doesn’t bode well for them, really. But, Neeson’s character is a super ex-spy and this sort of stuff just happens, like, all the time. In this installment, he’s set up as the bad guy and the police think he did it, so he’s not only running away from the police but he’s also trying to do their job for them. Sounds fun!
Perfect For: You liked the first two movies and you are missing Jason Bourne very, very much.
What the Critics Say: Negative. Writes Variety: “The third and presumably final installment of the Liam Neeson action franchise is a mind-numbing, crash-bang misfire.”
Our Take: Please make it stop.
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Selma
The more things change, the more they stay the same… Selma is about Martin Luther King Jr., and the three-month long protests in Selma, Alabama, over voting rights, which helped jumpstart the civil rights movement in the 60s. Starring David Oyelowo as King, as well as Cuba Gooding Jr. and Oprah Winfrey.
Perfect For: You have a penchant for historical dramas.
What the Critics Say: This one ranks a perfect 100 percent on the Rotten Tomato meter reading. Writes the Seattle Times: “History becomes breathtaking drama in "Selma"; there's an urgent realism in the storytelling, as if we're seeing this just in time. And indeed we are...” Writes the New York Times: “I have rarely seen a historical film that felt so populous and full of life, so alert to the tendrils of narrative that spread beyond the frame.”
Our Take: An especially prescient movie considering current events. See it three times.
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