Douglas Davidson

Review: Saving Brinton

May 18, 2018 by Douglas Davidson

For many, going to the movie theater is all about escapism. Whether by some space odyssey, gut-busting comedy, biopic, family drama, or adventure historical, the movie theater is a place to depart the seriousness of life and embark on a journey of a different sort. Even with growing audience fallout, the theatrical experience remains a reprieve from the trials of the day-to-day, whether enjoyed in a proper cinema house or at home. For some, cinema is more than a series […]

Categories: REVIEW • Tags: Andrew Sherburne, George R Willeman, Georges Méliès, Greg Prickman, John Richard, Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, Michael Zahs, movie history, movie review, REVIEW, Rick Altman, Saving Brinton, Serge Bromberg, Tommy Haines

Review: Terminal

May 11, 2018 by Douglas Davidson

Appearances can be deceiving. Always be the smartest person in the room. There’s no such thing as coincidence. These may be rote clichés, yet the failure to adhere to them will get you killed in Vaughn Stein’s feature debut, Terminal. Before you harangue me for a spoiler, part of the brilliance of Stein’s script is everything is laid out for the viewer from the jump. Our femme fatale (Margot Robbie) makes a wager with a mysterious man to pit two […]

Categories: REVIEW • Tags: Alice in Wonderland, crime thriller, Dexter Fletcher, Lewis Carroll, Margot Robbie, Max Irons, Mike Myers, movie review, noir, RLJE Films, Simon Pegg, Terminal, thriller, Vaughn Stein

Review: The Judge

April 4, 2018 by Douglas Davidson

A well-executed documentary works on multiple levels. There’s the central story the director explores, but then there’s some other aspect that finds its way on in, often by surprise. Sometimes these elements overshadow the central story, others they enhance – the latter being the case with director Erika Cohn’s The Judge, a compelling piece of verité cinema focused on Judge Kholoud Al-Faqih, the first female justice in the Middle East’s Shari’a court. Cohn, however, doesn’t settle with Al-Faqih’s story, as […]

Categories: REVIEW • Tags: cinema verite, documentary, Erika Cohn, Husam Al-Deen Afanah, indie documentary, indie film, Judge Kholoud Al-Faqih, Kholoud Al-Faqih, Tayseer Al-Tamimi, The Judge

Review: The Party

March 15, 2018 by Douglas Davidson

Imagine yourself in a confined space. There are two ways in, yet it feels like there’s no way out. You’re surrounded by life-long friends who adore you, until they don’t and then all bets are off. As French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre examined in his play No Exit, hell is just other people. More specifically, hell is who you think you’re supposed to be based on the company you keep for they reflect back to you who you think you really […]

Categories: REVIEW • Tags: Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Cillian Murphy, comedy, dark comedy, drama, Emily Mortimer, Kristin Scott Thomas, MadMan Entertainment, movie review, Patricia Clarkson, REVIEW, Roadside Attractions, Sally Potter, Timothy Spall

Review: Game Night

February 23, 2018 by Douglas Davidson

Everyone knows that one super-competitive person. The one who will bury your nose in their victory or flip over the table in defeat. Yet we love them because they’re family and it’s usually only during game night that their inner beast emerges. With the recent resurgence of table top games, bringing family members together (Exploding Kittens), tearing them apart (Monopoly), or out-right traumatizing them (Cards Against Humanity) has never been more exciting or fun. Like a good game night, some […]

Categories: REVIEW • Tags: action, action comedy, ason Bateman, Billy Magnussen, Camille Chen, Chelsea Peretti, comedy, Danny Huston, Game Night, Jesse Plemons, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Kyle Chandler, Kylie Bunbury, Lamorne Morris, Mark Perez, Michael C Hall, movie review, Rachel McAdams, REVIEW, Sharon Horgan, Warner Bros Pictures

REVIEW: Saturday Church

January 13, 2018 by Douglas Davidson

Audiences will quickly compare Saturday Church to Moonlight, the 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner which also tells a personal, character-driven story about a boy’s search for self at the intersection of sexual identity and race. While both excel at telling singular stories in this vein, that’s where the similarities end. Saturday Church, for all of its heartbreak, is grounded in a beautiful joyfulness that pervades even the worst moments of the film, lightening their impact and lessening their pain. Inspired […]

Categories: REVIEW • Tags: Alexia Garcia, Damon Cardasis, Indya Moore, Jaylin Fletcher, Kate Bornstein, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQ films, Luka Kain, Margot Kingham, Marquis Rodriguez, Mj Rodriquez, movie review, Nathan Larson, Regina Taylor, REVIEW, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Saturday Church

REVIEW: ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”

December 20, 2017 by Douglas Davidson

In 1995 audiences were taken on a fantastical adventure when two young children began to play the board game Jumanji, a magical game which, once started, cannot be stopped until the end is reached. The film, titled after the game, still resides in the hearts of the children that watched it, beloved for its wild and ridiculous premise. Though the 2005 follow-up Zathura: A Space Adventure didn’t connect with audiences as strongly as Jumanji, it established a cinematic world in […]

Categories: REVIEW • Tags: Alex Wolff, Bobby Cannavale, Chris McKenna, Chris Van Allsburg, Colin Hanks, Dwayne Johnson, Erik Sommers, Jack Black, Jake Kasdan, Jeff Pinkner, Jumanji, Jumanji - Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji 2, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Madison Iseman, Missi Pyle, Morgan Turner, Nick Jonas, REVIEW, Rhys Darby, Scott Rosenberg, Ser'Darius Blain, Tim Matheson

Pretty Vacant One

Author Archives: Douglas Davidson