“15 Years Ago, James Wan Made The Most ‘Freaky’ Underrated Thriller Of The Century”

Silence is golden, but also if you scream at the vengeful ghost of a murderous puppeteer, it is very bloody. Continue reading →

Review: Aquaman, 2018, dir. James Wan

Preamble: Man, the DCEU movies are fucking bad. (Excepting Wonder Woman, which is good until it’s bad.) …okay, got that out of the way. Aquaman kinda rocks. Like Wonder Woman, Aquaman cradles its share of flaws and bad creative decisions, most of them involving the totally great Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who deserves to be a big huge movie star and … Continue reading →

Review: The Conjuring 2, 2016, dir. James Wan

Everyone who hates The Conjuring should love The Conjuring 2; unlike the first film, the second doesn’t make a plot-based historical oopsie and suggest that maybe women killed during the Salem witch trials actually were witches. But if The Conjuring 2 is a victory for social criticism on paper, it’s a defeat for integrity in franchising in practice (such … Continue reading →

Review: Insidious, 2011, dir. James Wan

Insidious can be described as “two-thirds of a great film”, which damns it far more than a purely negative critique ever could. Coming from the co-creator of the Saw franchise James Wan’s fourth film is scary in a way that most contemporary horror pictures are not, either by consequence or by design; it’s cinema that … Continue reading →

Review: Alice Through the Looking Glass, 2016, dir. James Bobin

I probably don’t need to tell you at this point that Alice Through the Looking Glass is a pretty bad movie. I also don’t really want to tell you about it, because I’ve already dedicated enough ink to the film as it is, and even my 900 word take-down of the sequel to Tim Burton’s 2010 surprise … Continue reading →

“‘Malignant’ Explained: What Horror Gets Wrong About Imaginary Friends”

Here’s a shocker, most kids’ imaginary friends don’t actually go on murderin’ sprees. Journalism! Continue reading →

Movies That Made Going to the Movies Suck: Seven

(Author’s note: Thanks to Mike for putting this exercise together! Head on over to his blog and check out the other entries in the series…they’re pretty inspired!) Fifteen years ago, stylish rogue director David Fincher took audiences by surprise with his grim, unsettling police thriller, Seven*, a Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman vehicle about a … Continue reading →

“‘Superintelligence’ Can’t Figure Out How To Craft A Joke, Even With Melissa McCarthy Leading The Way”

Wouldn’t you know it, there is nothing either super or intelligent about this sucker. Continue reading →

“‘The Day Shall Come’ And The Myth Of The Black Nationalist Terrorist”

The day shall come! In fact, it already came! It’s done. It’s gone. You missed it. What the hell, why weren’t you paying attention for the day. Continue reading →

“What ‘Ad Astra’ Reveals About Brad Pitt’s Relationship With His Dad”

Ah, yes, “Ad Astra,” also known as “Brad’s Sad Dad Astra.” I thought this movie would be a Bad Astra. But it’s a Rad Astra! And I’m so Glad Astra. Continue reading →

Review: King Cobra, 2016, dir. Justin Kelly

I’m not sure I altogether disliked Justin Kelly’s latest film, King Cobra; it’s a damn sight better than his last movie, 2015’s irredeemably awful I Am Michael, and it’s pretty decent on its own merits. But I couldn’t let go of the film’s flaws in my review for The Playlist: The film is just way too underdeveloped … Continue reading →

Review: Time to Choose, 2016, dir. Charles Ferguson

Does Charles Ferguson’s Time to Choose count as pro-environmental propaganda? That’s a loaded label to sling at any film, especially a well-intentioned documentarian attempt at courting our sense of obligation to our planet. The Earth’s slow-burn ruination is one of humanity’s great shames, after all; we’re the ones gutting its depths, scarring its face, and … Continue reading →

Review: Skyfall, 2012, dir. Sam Mendes

Has the James Bond franchise come full circle? Are we now at a point where there are no more secrets to the world’s most famous globe-trotting, womanizing, martini-guzzling spy? By the time Sam Mendes directs Skyfall, his entry in the half-a-century-old series, to its logical conclusion, we’ve actually experienced cinema of regression, watching as the … Continue reading →

Aurora, Three Days Later

Seventy-two hours after James Holmes took the lives of twelve people in an Aurora movie theater, I offer my plea for proper, respectful reaction and discourse in the tragedy’s wake. What did Holmes have in mind when he attacked the Century 16? For now, it doesn’t matter. 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 →

Review: John Carter, 2012, dir. Andrew Stanton

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 →

2011 Rising: My Films to Watch (pt.2)

Part 2 of my 2011 preview commences…now! (Part 1 can be perused here, at your leisure.) X-Men: First Class— By happy coincidence, the first trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s period prequel to the X-Men franchise hit just last week, and guess what? It looks really good. Focusing specifically on the relationship between Erik Lehnsherr, the man … Continue reading →

2011 Rising: My Films to Watch (pt.1)

For me, 2010’s in the bag, but it’s not totally wrapped up until I take the time to ruminate over the upcoming slate of movies in 2011 that excite me, discourage me, intrigue me, or puzzle/offend me (and, of course, also post the rest of my top ten, which is, I promise, coming around the … Continue reading →

Review: Animal Kingdom, 2010, David Michôd

If there existed a “Best Debut” category at any of the self-aggrandizing awards shows which infect popular consciousness during the winter months of the year, then David Michôd would be a shoe-in. His very first feature, Animal Kingdom, isn’t ostentatious or glitzy; it’s far too self-assured to rely on gimmicks, adroitly made with the confidence … Continue reading →

From the Cinema to the Sofa: The Cape (ep. 1.1/1.2)

Holy awful, Batman. In fact, beginning any review of NBC’s latest original series (a term here that, you’ll soon see, I use very, very loosely) with a Batman reference feels totally apropos given how much the program owes to Christopher Nolan’s very solid interpretations of the classic hero. The Cape frankly reeks of Batman Begins … Continue reading →