Groovers and Mobsters Present: Horror

The Wicker Man (1973) “Do sit down, Sergeant. Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent.” Let me ask a simple question: What scares you? Masked psychos lurking in the shadows, stalking you in your house or through dark and foreboding woods? Alien invasions, full-scale or otherwise, staged by extraterrestrial races with less-than-benevolent … Continue reading →

Review: The Social Network, 2010, dir. David Fincher

Announcement to Jesse Eisenberg: From henceforth you are no longer allowed to work with writers whose names are not Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin, known throughout his career for engineering propulsive and mercurial dialogue, possesses a style almost tailor-made for Eisenberg’s precipitative speech patterns. Throughout The Social Network‘s two hour running time Eisenberg seems to be the … Continue reading →

Critical Risks

“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in … Continue reading →

Review: The Wrestler, 2008, dir. Darren Aronofsky

Forget, if you will, the Jesus metaphor brought to bear in so many discussions of The Wrestler that you’ve undoubtedly engaged in or observed across the web and in personal discussions of the picture’s finer merits (which are many). Yes, there’s some weight to the idea that Mickey Rourke’s over-the-hill wrestling champion of old, Randy … Continue reading →

Groovers and Mobsters Present: Vampires

    “Let the Right One In” (2008) “Are you my age?” “Yes. But I’ve been this age for a very long time.” Twelve year old Oskar is the product of a life of neglect; his parents, divorced, appear to have come to the consensus that neither wants him, and he’s alone in school where … Continue reading →

Review: Monsters, 2010, dir. Gareth Edwards

In Monsters, the debut picture of newcomer Gareth Edwards, colossal alien beasts roam the lands south of the US/Mexico border after landing on Earth six years ago. The territory they inhabit, stretching south from the border through much of northern Mexico, has been deemed the “infected zone” and is considered hostile for human beings to … Continue reading →