Here is a recap of the films reviewed on today’s show:
Grandma is a well-made little character study. The film is a little too flippant for its own good but it is smart and funny while also creating rich and interesting characters, especially the lead played by Lily Tomlin.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is a fun sequel. The movie lacks in some of its duties as the middle chapter of an ongoing story but the action sequences make the film engaging enough.
Captive is not very successful at anything. Despite the efforts of the central cast, the story is not exciting and the filmmakers’ attempt at spiritual inspiration falls flat.
Black Mass has some terrific performances but it suffers from too many basic storytelling mistakes. The biography of Whitey Bulgar is one of the great American crime stories but this movie doesn’t do it justice.
A Walk in the Woods is not a great movie but it is likable, mostly because of the performances by Robert Redford and especially Nick Nolte. Where the movie falls short as a travelogue it mostly succeeds as a buddie flick.
While We’re Young covers familiar territory of writer and director Noah Baumbach but it is also a more mature and more complex film than others that he’s made. This is one of the best and most interesting films about the intersections and deviations between Generation Xers and Millennials.
You can find full text of every review in the Sounds of Cinema Review Archive.