Joss Whedon Is My Master Now

Alternate title: How The Avengers turned me around on one of the most beloved proprietors of genre franchisement of the modern age. Continue reading →

Go, See, Talk! Review: Chernobyl Diaries, 2012, dir. Brad Parker

A daring foray into an ongoing real-world disaster, accented by some great, spooky, atmospheric imagery, doesn’t do anything more with its concepts than serve up sub-standard horror driven by amazingly bad decision-making skills. Continue reading →

The DearFilm Podcast: Battleship

Another week, another guest appearance on Outside the Envelope, the DearFilm podcast. Actually, it’s been more than a week. Several, in fact. But it was worth the wait, because Brian, Rick Sandlas, and myself all had a great time discussing Battleship, which I despised, as well as a bevy of other films– including Melancholia, The … Continue reading →

TV Review: Game of Thrones, 2.7 and 2.8: A Man Without Honor/The Prince of Winterfell

In this week’s recap of Game of Thrones: matters of honor, respectability, personal identity, and forward plot progression. Also, good, clean, healthy, romantic love. For once. Continue reading →

There Will Be Phoenix: Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” Teaser

Paul Thomas Anderson has unleashed a hypnotic, attention-grabbing, evocative teaser for his latest, The Master– and if you haven’t guessed already, it really made an impression on me. Continue reading →

Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene, 2011, dir. Sean Durkin

I absolutely adored this mesmerizing, eerie, and breathtakingly composed film– inasmuch as something this unsettling can be adored– and it’s all thanks to some top-drawer editing and a startlingly assured debut by Elizabeth Olsen. Continue reading →

Review: In the Loop, 2009, dir. Armando Iannucci

If one word describes In the Loop, Armando Iannucci’s 2009 political satire, it’s almost certainly “scathing”. If two, that and “unforgiving”. Going further would only yield an entire novella of words meant to convey intense discontent or outright anger, and indeed the only declarative statement I can make about the film in the positive is … Continue reading →

Go, See, Talk! Review: Battleship

Peter Berg’s latest offering is irredeemably terrible. Continue reading →

TV Review: Girls, Episodes 2-5 Round-Up

I’ve finally gotten around to catching up on the rest of ‘Girls’– a show that’s honestly just as much for men as it is for women– and I really dig it. Continue reading →

Martians At the Multiplex!: Extraterrestrial Blogathon

What do you do when you’re the person to make first contact with a highly advanced alien race from some unknown reach of the galaxy? Make room on your couch, pass the popcorn, and dig in for a movie marathon. Obviously. Continue reading →

Go, See, Talk! Review: Dark Shadows

My review should make it immediately, abundantly clear, but I really didn’t like Tim Burton’s latest gaudy, Gothic opus, a re-interpretation/adaptation of the 1960s/70s TV show Dark Shadows. Diehard fans who worship at the Nightmare Before Christmas director’s altar will probably find themselves quite dazzled by what he’s done here, and in fairness I think … Continue reading →

Mutton-Driven Ballots: The LAMB’s 2012 Nominations

The Large Association of Movie Blogs’ annual awards feature is up, running, and waiting for your nominations– and I’m campaigning for your votes. Continue reading →

TV Review: Game of Thrones, 2.5 & 2.6: The Ghost of Harrenhal/The Old Gods and the New

Doubling up again on the show’s second season installments, this week I ponder and analyze the events of the fifth and sixth episodes of S2– including the shocking reduction in overall nakedness, the repercussions of poorly-employed authority, and the inexperience of youth. Continue reading →

Schwarzenegger Starring In David Ayer-helmed “Ten”

The Governator will continue to be back. Continue reading →

The Criterion Files: Bicycle Thieves/Gomorrah (pt. 2)

It’s taken me some time, but I finally have the second half of the most recent Criterion Files installment for you to peruse. I realize we’re well outside the week and a half timeline I hinted at in the first part, but by now you should all know me well enough to not take my … Continue reading →

Forget About Performance Art: Step Up Revolution Trailer

When watching the trailer for Step Up Revolution (the fourth entry of the hip hop dance saga, which frankly nobody really needs), be ready to answer one big, important question: are you ready for some protest art? In theory, I’m behind the concept of hinting at social revolution and pointing to the Occupy movements in … Continue reading →

Review: The Avengers, 2012, dir. Joss Whedon

The Avengers didn’t have to do much to impress me. Being as honest as possible, Joss Whedon’s attempt at making a respectable entrance into the 2012 summer season with the capstone picture of Marvel Studios’ long-gestating superhero bonanza just needed to be tolerable to get a pass from me. Put bluntly, C-level material alone would … Continue reading →

Review: The Five-Year Engagement, 2012, dir. Nicholas Stoller

  There’s a near-fatal overload of ideas bouncing around in the hulking frame of Nick Stoller’s The Five-Year Engagement, his follow-up to 2010’s Get Him to the Greek. Primarily a comedy, the film examines not simply marriage—as the title dictates—but the reversing and alteration of gender roles in modern relationships, which I admit sounds high-minded … Continue reading →