Alex Bentley

3 weeks ago | houston.culturemap.com | Alex Bentley

If you were to do a poll of the best comedy filmmakers of the 21st century, writer/director Wes Anderson is not the obvious choice to come out on top, but there’s an argument to be made for him. His quirky style doesn’t yield the guffaws that more broad comedies do, but the absurd situations he creates in his films are often more consistently funny than anything else. Anderson’s inimitable approach is once again on full display in The Phoenician Scheme.

3 weeks ago | sanantonio.culturemap.com | Alex Bentley

Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme. Photo courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features moviesfilmmichael ceratom hanksscarlett johanssonjeffrey wrightbenicio del torowes andersonbryan cranstonbenedict cumberbatchmovie reviewnews/entertainment Ana de Armas in Ballerina. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate action moviesana de armasanjelica houstonfilmgabriel byrnejohn wick franchisekeanu reeveslance reddickmoviesmovie reviewnews/entertainment

3 weeks ago | dallas.culturemap.com | Alex Bentley

If you were to do a poll of the best comedy filmmakers of the 21st century, writer/director Wes Anderson is not the obvious choice to come out on top, but there’s an argument to be made for him. His quirky style doesn’t yield the guffaws that more broad comedies do, but the absurd situations he creates in his films are often more consistently funny than anything else. Anderson’s inimitable approach is once again on full display in The Phoenician Scheme.

3 weeks ago | fortworth.culturemap.com | Alex Bentley

Leading the way this weekend in and around Fort Worth is once again The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which will be complemented by a free outdoor celebration. Other choices include four concerts, screenings of a unique new film, a lantern festival, an opera production, three local theater productions, a fitness competition fit for Fort Worth, a big anniversary for a Fort Worth institution, and the final days of a museum exhibition.

3 weeks ago | houston.culturemap.com | Alex Bentley

The John Wickfranchise has been successful due to two things: The hyper-violence inflicted by its protagonist, and its star, Keanu Reeves, who has used a bare minimum of words to create a great antihero. Trying to capitalize on its popularity, Lionsgate — the studio behind the franchise — has made Ballerina, a spin-off focusing on a character inspired by another minor character from John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. That convoluted set-up is the first of a variety of missteps for the film.