Reviews of the Bosch

The Oscar speech. We know it, we love it, we admire it, we make fun of it. It has for decades been a symbolic touchstone, of the acting profession especially. Sure there are those who would decry it, who act for the craft, who don't believe in competitiveness or put much stock in the meaning of winning an award, but most actors -far more than would admit it- see it as a north star, practicing their speech for when they finally are invited up on that stage.  Since the creation of the Oscars there have been 368 awards given out for acting, meaning that (taking into account the handful who have won more than once and others who did not attend the ceremony) over 300 actors have been given the chance to make that speech. It is a moment their careers have been building too, the ultimate limelight, and a chance to make a statement whether about themselves, others, or something else in a public forum. As someone who is compelled by the Oscars in spite of better judgement, these s...

She is in her prime, she so frequently insists. But being in one's "prime" is overrated -certainly if this movie is anything to go by. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie -both the movie and the state it refers to- is a very different beast by the end of the story than it was at the start, though it does telegraph where it is going if you are paying enough attention. In attitude and disposition, Miss Jean Brodie is perfectly pleasant -a shrewd and charismatic teacher, with the class and articulation of any of her conservative peers, yet an unconventional, romantic streak to her instructional style as well. The kind of teacher who can and has influenced many a young pupil under her wing -but in this case well beyond the bounds of education and life lessons. She is rather skilful in persuading her girls into an air of snobbish entitlement, imposing on them manipulative sexual proclivities, and passing along her ardent belief in the grandness of fascism. All rather concerning for ...

If it is in any way accurate to its source material,  Monkey  is Stephen King’s Final Destination  -which seems like such an odd thing. A story that is very gleeful about every death, about every moment of violence and the attitude of its characters seem to reflect that sense of observational absurdity. It’s certainly quite different in tone from a lot of King horror stories we’re familiar with, not to mention the work of director Osgood Perkins, who only really came onto the scene as a filmmaker last year with his movie Longlegs . Where that was a movie that tried hard to feel like a classic and serious serial killer film, this one has not an ounce of seriousness in it. And the fun Perkins has with it resonates, even if the movie on a whole is another mixed bag. The film revolves around a stuffed toy monkey with terrifying globe eyes and what look to be real human teeth (and there is never an attempt to pacify this, everyone is at least mildly freaked out by it). Turning...