Sam's Review Club

©VH1. All Rights Reserved. Acting challenges are the bread and butter of ANTM ’s wackiness. Why Tyra thinks that any of her girls will have even a semi-successful acting career is beyond me. I’m not complaining. After all, watching young wannabe models flail their way through a short scene is always the most entertaining. I still fondly remember the time the girls needed to whip out a cockney accent for their challenge in Cycle 4. If you haven’t seen it, go and watch it. “SUNNY ROSE I AM!” Classic. That also happens to be the episode where Tyra yells at Tiffany. Cycle 4. Episode 7. I’ll wait while you go and catch yourself up. Welcome back to the review! The Cycle 24 acting challenge is standard Top Model fare. Tyra sends some scripts over to the girls (“be sure you memorize these”), pairs them with an attractive male actor (this time in the form of Kevin Phillips) and all of the girls’ lines quickly fly out the window. In their defense, the scene is amazingly ...

©2017 Twentieth Century Fox If you think Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a mouthful of a title, try being one of the residents in Ebbing, Missouri. A simple act of defiance from the venom-spitting Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand, in a role that begs for an Oscar) becomes a state-wide phenomenon whose desire for vengeance is one that will leave many wounded as deeply as she. Billboards is more than just an intimate character study, it is an example of how to build narratives, create winning chemistry, and tinge even the darkest of stories with humor. Seven months prior to the beginning of Billboards , Mildred’s world was turned upside down when her daughter Angela was raped and burned alive by her assailant. With no leads and a seemingly stalled case, Mildred rents three abandoned billboards outside her home just outside the town of Ebbing, Missouri. In order they read: RAPED WHILE DYING; AND STILL NO ARRESTS; and HOW COME, CHIEF WILLOUGHBY? They go unnoticed...

©2017 Twentieth Century Fox 2017 was a weird year: Donald Trump was sworn in as president, a Spongebob Squarepants musical was made (and was shockingly good), and Guillermo Del Toro’s woman-loves-fish fantasy epic became undoubtedly the most beautiful film of the year. After seeing The Shape of Water , I immediately kicked myself for not being familiar with director Guillermo Del Toro’s filmography. His lush and over-the-top romantic fantasy is everything storytelling should be: fantastic, unpredictable, and succinct. Much praise will be heaped on the creative team for building Del Toro’s vision, but the real star is Doug Jones who turns a non-verbal role where he is covered in slimy scales into the emotional core of this love story. Elisa Esposito (a revelatory Sally Hawkins) lives her life by the clock. She wakes, boils an egg, masturbates, and heads off to work. The mute woman, who works as a janitor at a U.S. research facility, constantly escapes into the perfect wo...

©2017 - NEON As Margot Robbie drawls in the final moments of I, Tonya : “America wants someone to love, but they also want someone to hate.” Tonya Harding exemplifies both the best and the worst qualities of an All-American athlete. Her career, filled with some of the highest highs for any American figure skater, was short-lived thanks to the infamous knee-capping of Nancy Kerrigan, America’s figure skating sweetheart, prior to the 1994 Olympic Games. She is the perfect fodder for a biopic. But I, Tonya does more than just humanize someone who has become a symbol for villainous and conniving athletes. This film reimagines the way biopics should be presented. According to captions before the movie begins, I, Tonya is based on a series of conflicting interviews between Tonya Harding (an electrifying Margot Robbie in a performance bound to reshape her career) and her now-ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan, who serves as a worthy sparring partner). Consequently the rest ...

Show art property of The Humans . All Rights Reserved. During the performance of The Humans last night at the Kennedy Center I had to constantly try to focus on the words of Stephen Karam’s script. Even in their slower moments, Karam’s words are quick, efficient, and representative of how real families experiencing real struggles communicate. It’s a shame the cast was unable to elevate these words to the dramatic heights of which they are capable. Winning the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play, The Humans is a real-time drama set in a duplex apartment in New York City. Having just moved into their new abode, Brigid (a slightly grating Daisy Eagan) and Richard (Luis Vega) decide to host Thanksgiving dinner. The evening is already off to a rocky start thanks to the moving trucks being delayed. There is nearly no furniture in their apartment, which creates a less than inviting space for Brigid’s family upon their arrival. The young couple hopes they can nevertheless make the most ...

Show Poster Image Property of On Your Feet!  All Rights Reserved When I saw On Your Feet! last night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the audience had gone crazy before the curtain rose. Unexpectedly, the real-life Gloria and Emilio Estefan were in attendance for the musical chronicling their lives. Knowing these legends were present energized the audience in a way I have seen only a handful of times before. It was clear the evening would be an exciting one no matter what played out on stage. For those unfamiliar with the history of Gloria, Emilio, and the Miami Sound Machine, the musical serves as a solid history lesson. Little Gloria (Carmen Sanchez) grows up in Little Havana in Miami, Floria. Her mother, Gloria Fajardo (Nancy Ticotin, one of the strongest but most inconsistent actresses), and grandmother, Consuelo García (a scene-stealing Alma Cuervo), watch after her. Quickly, Gloria matures into a beautiful young woman (original Broadway standby for Gloria,...

Photo by Disney/Pixar - ©2017 Disney/Pixar Sandwiched between two sequels ( Finding Dory and Cars 3 ) and another two sequels ( Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4 ) is a beautiful reassurance that Pixar has not lost the magic that put them on the map in 1995. Coco is a fast-paced, exciting, and emotionally draining animated epic worthy of any awards for which it is eligible. Pixar founded itself on the promise to avoid several common Disney tropes: no songs, no “I want” moments, no happy village, no love story. Love stories are once again absent but Coco ’s plot is simultaneously the most- and least-Pixar film yet. Songs, “I want” moments, and a large family which may as well be a happy village are riddled throughout. Moving away from the norm, however, proves a gamble that pays off. Miguel's family will stop at nothing to keep him away from music. ©2017 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved. Miguel Rivera (an adorable Anthony Gonzalez) wants nothing more than to be a...

Photo by A24 ©2017 I was in high school when one of my best friends showed me a clip from what he called “the worst movie ever.” I found this a hyperbolic label but I watched the clip nonetheless. “Worst movie ever” didn’t even begin to describe the train wreck I witnessed. The most awkward, scraggly-haired man with the oddest accent stumbled into a flower shop and purchased a bouquet from a clearly disinterested shop clerk. None of their words synced with their mouths, there was no continuity in the shots, and the dialogue was uninspired. The film in question was The Room . The man was Tommy Wiseau. He had written, directed, and starred in this complete bomb and championed its release. Rationally, I knew what I was watching was terrible. It nevertheless filled me with such joy and did what many scenes struggle to do: entertained. Similar stories open The Disaster Artist , the James Franco-helmed exploration of the making of Wiseau’s now-heralded “masterpiece.” Krist...

©2017 - Focus Features Studios tend to pack their end of the year distribution schedules with one of two types of films: moody arthouse flicks that have been beloved at festivals or intimate character studies that serve as Oscar fodder for their actors. Darkest Hour , the new take on Winston Churchill’s ascent to the Prime Ministership, is the latter. Gary Oldman is a revelation as Churchill but, while the rest of the cast tries hard, the movie around him never reaches the same astronomical heights. If you are unfamiliar with Churchill’s first month in office, Hitler is advancing on Western Europe. Nazi forces are laying siege to British allies like France and Belgium. After unsuccessful attempts to fight back and/or broker peace agreements, Wilton Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) is kicked out of office by a frustrated parliament. Begrudgingly, King George VI (a serviceable, but not spectacular, Ben Mendelsohn) offers the position to Churchill. For someone who is hailed as “the ...