Review: "Vice" Sets Its Sights a Little Too High

Christian Bale in Vice

The latest film from director Adam McKay couldn't have better timing if it tried. With 2018 coming to a close amid a government shutdown and lots of in-fighting, the chance to reflect on what we expect from the people in charge has never been more of a prominent subject. It's why Vice feels like it should be a bigger deal, where the most notorious vice president in 21st century American history is finally scrutinized in a text that fossilizes him as the awful human he was. It's the part of McKay's experimental film making that succeeds, throwing the audience into a story that will boil the blood of anyone who currently lives in the America that Dick Cheney helped to mold over 50 years. However, McKay is maybe a bit too obsessed with the style to ever make one element shine above the rest. The film is a mess that often reaches blips of greatness, and overall it's a missed opportunity to create something singular and definitive of not only Cheney's life, but of the 2018 the film was born into.

"Straight Outta Compton" Producer, Spike Lee, and More Address Oscars Diversity Problem

Scene from Straight Outta Compton

Last Thursday marked the announcement of this year's Oscar nominees. If nothing else, there was a lot of intriguing genre diversity in Best Picture, with two major sci-fi films competing with prestige dramas. Even the acting fields had their own surprises. However, there's one thing that has come up once again: Oscars So White. Last year it showed up because all 20 of the nominees in the acting field were white. This year unfortunately featured more of the same, with many crying out once again that The Oscars have a race problem. With that said, some major voices in the black community have made their opinion public, and everyone from Spike Lee (who recently won an Honorary Oscar) to Tyle Perry have ways that they could fix things. To say the least, some of them have good ideas.

Review: "Gone Girl" is Fincher's Excellently Twisted Take on Morality and Media

Director David Fincher may be the greatest filmmaker of the contemporary American mainstream crime drama. From Se7en to Zodiac and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, he has added a violent joy to tragedy. It is voyeuristic and, as he progressed, more artistic. He is a filmmaker of uncompromising talent by turning crime scenes into allegorical theories on human existence. In the case of Gone Girl, he explores the sick fascination with mental illness and essentially lying to the camera. It is a film that seems straightforward at first, but by the closing credits, the unnerving sense of happiness only makes things creepier. What Fincher has done was created probably his most twisted, unexpected, pulpy film to date, and it works more often than not.

Fincher Returns to Oscar Prospects with the Compelling "Gone Girl" Trailer

Ben Affleck

It may only be April, but that doesn't mean that we can't look forward to what the Fall season will provide. With an exceptional time in films right now with Noah, Joe and Under the Skin currently giving plenty to talk about, it would seem like the Oscar race has some early threats. However, for those that take last year's marginal selection as a sign of fate, then we haven't even begun. With all of this said, director David Fincher manages to hit the scene early with the first official trailer for his latest film Gone Girl, which opens in October. The results are immediately striking in true Fincher form and poses the question of what's really going to happen next.