satire

Film: Triangle of Sadness Cast: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de Leon, Zlatko Buric, Iris Berben, Vicki Berlin, Henrik Dorsin, Woody HarrelsonDirector: Ruben OstlundRating: 3.5/ 5Runtime: 147 mins The writer/director of celebrated films like `Force Majeure` and `The Square,` Sweden’s socially conscious Ruben Ostlund, uses his sharp, acerbic and obvious wit to dismantle class and opportunistic politics in this his first English language outing and recent Palm d’Or winner. Triangle of Sadness…

While sci-fi fans like myself wait for the highly-anticipated sixth season of Black Mirror to be released, one movie on the 2023 Sundance Film Festival lineup, The Pod Generation, provided the kind of 'what if' that could have fit with other episodes of the Netflix series. The movie stars Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke living in a version of the future where there’s an option to have a baby via a plastic (and very expensive) egg. My biggest takeaway from the whole thing is how probable it can feel. The Pod Generation…

It’s become a depressingly familiar rite of passage for a director of vim and promise to stumble when they ambitiously decide to adapt a book that should have probably stayed on the shelf. Back in 2018, Blue Ruin and Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier came a cropper when he tried to wrangle William Giraldi’s unwieldy Hold the Dark to the screen. At Sundance in 2020, Dee Rees followed Pariah and Mudbound with a clunky, critically loathed attempt to turn Joan Didion’s The Last Thing He Wanted into a coherent film. And just…

“The Drop wants to be more funny and insightful than it is, and it ultimately delivers a disappointing satire on love and relationships.” Cons More awkward than funny Cast never really gels Starts okay, but loses momentum Sometimes you can bring together a group of very funny people and still have a tough time getting a laugh. That’s the lesson that bubbles to the…

When a course is ready to serve, Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) stands upfront and gives a resounding clap. All his chefs take position immediately. The echo of the clap is almost like a wake-up call for his select group of diners--get ready, you're in for a treat of a lifetime. The same applies for Succession director Mark Mylod's wickedly entertaining The Menu, which is a dish best served cold. The less you know about the multi-course punishment prepared in store, the better. (Also read: Anya Taylor-Joy did all her…

Whatever its flaws, this movie provides fans of French star Léa Seydoux with a treat. She is in closeup so much of the time: that mesmeric, feline beauty is cool in repose, a mask of indifference or mystery, but with a suggestion of late night indulgence in the faint lines under the eyes. She has something of Isabelle Huppert’s hauteur – although Huppert’s own faintly ironised blankness only came at a later life-stage. Seydoux’s hairstyling and maquillage are swoonworthy, particularly the arterial slash of lipstick. She…

Robert Townsend moved to Los Angeles in the early 80s, determined to become a Hollywood star. And though he had quickly emerged as a draw on the standup circuit, the Chicago native struggled to reckon with the structural racism he encountered while auditioning for bit parts on film and TV – the vast majority of them ham-fisted stereotypes, from snitch to slave.Before long, Townsend’s casting call stories – some of them humiliating, most of them hilariously tone deaf – became too overwhelming for his regular postmortems…

By Jake Coyle | Associated Press “What are we eating? A Rolex?” So quips Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) in Mark Mylod’s “The Menu” as she waits with her date, Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), a devoted foodie who has landed them a reservation at the exclusive restaurant Hawthorne. Like the opening of Rian Johnson’s upcoming “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” an eclectic, upscale bunch gathers eagerly on a dock to be ferried to a private island. The movie, like their meal, unfolds as a series of courses, each more elaborate, and…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeDir: Mark Mylod. Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, John Leguizamo, Janet McTeer. 15, 107 minutes.Anti-capitalism is hot again. Or, I should say, hot, but served on a crunchy bed of pulpy violence and topped off with an ice-cold, liquid nitrogen-cooled, mousse of social satire. After Get Out skewered white guilt, Ready or Not poked holes in inherited…

Are you ready for the holidays? Well, Hollywood certainly is. TV and streaming services are dancing with all sorts of seasonally themed programs and specials. We decided not get all Bah Humbug about it, and watched Will Ferrell/Ryan Reynolds musical “Spirited” and the continuation of the “Santa Clause” franchise – the Disney+ series “The Santa Clauses” with Tim Allen. We also saw two strong new theatrical films, the witty “The Menu” and the informative “She Said,” as well as an inspirational, quite moving Disney+/National…