“Are we in a rush or something?” It’s one of the earliest pieces of dialogue in Max Winkler’s debut picture, Ceremony, and I don’t know if he meant any irony by the statement but after an hour and twenty minutes that little quip perfectly encapsulates my feelings on the film. Winkler’s in a hurry to … Continue reading
John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard opens on what appears to be an obvious set-up at first glance: a car full of teens hurtling along the winding and narrow roads of Connemara, in the process of intoxication through the employment of various mediums, surely won’t be suffered to remain in drive for long in a story … Continue reading
Drive is cool; there’s no way around it. In point of fact I don’t know if there’s a better way to describe Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest film other than in terms of its inherent, blatant coolness, or more accurately a more appropriate way. “Cool” is what Drive embodies in every single detail, minute or otherwise; … Continue reading
I’d consider it a party foul if Michael Greenspan didn’t splurge on a high-end fruit basket for Adrien Brody once Wrecked, their 2011 attempt at aping 127 Hours, made it to post. Well-intentioned, and certainly lovely to look at, the director’s first feature-length effort lacks much of anything by way of that genre-essential trait, tension; … Continue reading
Last year, Matthew Vaughn’s Kick Ass posed the question, “What would happen if a regular, everyday person put on a costume and fought crime?” rather succinctly– they’d get beaten half to death– before going off the rails of reality and into full-blown superhero movie mode, as though to underscore the impossibility of the film’s own … Continue reading
Black Death‘s biggest draw might be Christopher Smith, director of such horror fare as the well-meaning but woefully forthcoming Triangle, the humorous and gory Severance, and Creep— which I haven’t caught myself. Smith’s latest shows roots in the horror genre, to be sure, but Black Death is the kind of film that wants to play … Continue reading
Can we really associate mumblecore to indie filmmaking any longer and remain completely honest after 2010’s Cyrus? While the movement-essential Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, don’t relinquish the personality and character of the cinema that they champion, they do work with a cast that strikes a watermark far, far above what past entries in their … Continue reading
During the last act of the felicitously named Hobo With a Shotgun, Rutger Hauer’s eponymous vagrant delivers a speech to a hospital nursery filled with babies that may set your meta-sense tingling. There’s a feeling that Hauer’s almost talking about himself and his own life decisions which have led him to star in a brisk, … Continue reading
Writing a review for 50/50 presents something of a challenge to me. On one hand, I want to rave to high heavens about it; on the other, I don’t want to oversell it. Every word I write, therefore, walks a fine line between setting up unfair expectations that the film can’t hope to meet and … Continue reading
…a movie based on a book you may not have read yet and might not be aware of if not for rags like Entertainment Weekly enthusiastically jamming the upcoming film adaptation down your damn throat at every opportunity. I’m not bitter, really. Color me more perplexed. If you ask EW— or any other major media … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 