For fans of FX spectacles, monster mashes, Roman mythology, and the God of War video game series, you’re in luck– the sequel to 2010’s Clash of the Titans remake hits theaters today. While I don’t think it’s a total loss, I found Wrath of the Titans to be lacking in a firm direction, never really fitting into a … Continue reading
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit down with three local area critics for a round table interview with the wonderfully loquacious and energetic Joseph Kahn to talk about his latest film, the genre-blender Detention. Without hesitation, I’ll say that this happens to be one of my favorite releases of the year to date, and if … Continue reading
Well, we’re almost into April, and I can only imagine that in the coming thirty days we’ll see the campaign promoting the May 2nd release of The Avengers ramp up in a big way. Marvel’s unleashed some new screen caps here and there to follow up the truly horrible poster released at the end of February and … Continue reading
Part of me wants to classify Jeff Nichols’ sophomore effort at least partially as horror. Not in the exploitative slashing sense, of course, but more in the vein of Polanski or Friedkin. The aptly dubbed Take Shelter blends highbrow artistic filmmaking and storytelling with moments of utterly numbing terror– apocalyptic visions revolving around monstrous storms … Continue reading
There’s so much surrounding The Hunger Games— socially, artistically, politically– that it’s hard to know where to start in writing a review about the latest pop-cultural literary and cinematic phenomenon. It feels somewhat gauche to begin by comparing Gary Ross’ adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ award-winning young adult novel to Twilight, to which it owes something of a … Continue reading
Well, it was only a matter of time before we got here, wasn’t it? Strange enough, the end of season 2 of The Walking Dead feels like it came upon us faster than the finale of the first season; in part, I attribute this to the fact that watching the second half of S2 wasn’t half … Continue reading
Are you a fan of the Criterion Collection? Have you ever read even mere segments of David Bordwell’s and Kristin Thompson’s exhaustively researched, massively elucidating and informative text, Film Art: An Introduction? No matter what your answers are to either of these questions, the only thing that truly matters is whether or not you have a … Continue reading
Casa de mi Padre is remarkably difficult to categorize. On the one hand, it’s eighty minutes of bizarre, absurdist, surrealist humor bent on taking potshots at immeasurably melodramatic telenovelas as well as the works of Sam Peckinpah. On the other, there’s still very little cinema to which it has a direct analogue. Take, for example, Friday’s other … Continue reading
Well, that changed my mind significantly. My wariness of and distaste toward the upcoming fantasy epic, Snow White and the Huntsman, isn’t exactly a well-kept secret. As with most properties, I’m put off at the idea that something as innocent as a children’s fairy tale needs to be doused in a grim and gritty sheen to … Continue reading
We’re back with another installment of The Criterion Files– this time with a double feature of the French persuasion. Three entries and six films in, this is still the first File to touch on the many numerous and great French filmmakers championed by the Criterion collection (and, as an aside, French films do seem to … Continue reading
Phil Lord’s and Chris Miller’s genius-level TV-to-movie adaptation, 21 Jump Street, has no right being as good as it is, but it’s easily the best comedy released so far this year and it could well be counted among the top five by the time we’re talking about year-end business. Hill’s in top form here, but Channing … Continue reading
Kevin Clash could more accurately be described as a wizard than a puppeteer; it’s one thing to simply animate a construct made of cloth and various materials, and quite another to bring them to startlingly expressive life. Tangibly that only indicates Clash’s absolute command of his craft, but speaking more to abstraction it’s representative of … Continue reading
So this past Sunday, I had the opportunity to do my very first podcast with two upstanding bloggers who, frankly, you should be aware of if you’re not already: Dan, from Fog’s Movie Reviews, and Brian, from DearFilm. Suffice to say, with the caliber of the bloggers involved you’d be doing yourself a favor if … Continue reading
Watching Andrew Stanton’s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ seminal science fiction pulp novel, A Princess of Mars— here blandly labeled John Carter— is equivalent to a genre-fueled out of body experience. You’ve seen this film before. You’ve seen it in Star Wars (both the original trilogy and the prequel films), you’ve seen it in Avatar, … Continue reading
Earlier this week, I saw Open Road’s latest release, the one-take home invasion horror film Silent House. My review for the movie now up on GoSeeTalk– along with a nice piece of bonus content in the form of an interview I did on Wednesday with director/writer duo Chris Kentis and Laura Lau (Open Water). The movie … Continue reading
If you haven’t already seen it courtesy of other, more Johnny-on-the-spot sources of Internet film journalism, then I’m happy to give you the first released glimpse of Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp in Disney’s 2013 release, Lone Ranger. From what I’m told, producer Jerry Bruckheimer Tweeted this image just today– which may not be surprising … Continue reading
I’m not sure what’s going on with the writing staff of The Walking Dead in the second half of season 2, but I’m not going to complain. After a stiff, uneven, and progression-free first half, the series has really taken off with four high quality episodes– probably none better than 18 Miles Out, though none … Continue reading
I think in the realm of 3D animated children’s fare, The Lorax might be the first such movie to come out in years that really and truly plays for kids. Adults, despite the themes and issues in play here, will probably have a much harder time with it; it’s very simply broken down, plotted, and dictated, … Continue reading
Observing a highly-lauded film often proves to be a challenging experience. Most film writers are well aware of the weight of expectations when it comes to honestly confronting their feelings on a movie that’s been fed to them through the Internet hype-machine and reassembled as something perhaps greater than it is in actuality. There are, … Continue reading
It’s amazing what a second viewing of a film can do to alter one’s perception and reaction to it. A while back, in my review of Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn’s excellent Bronson, I mentioned my admiration for Valhalla Rising— his 2009 follow-up– in the body of the review itself as well as in discussions … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 