This all seems awfully familiar: it’s December, and a big-scale fantasy epic based on one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s essential landmark novels has been adapted to the screen by the man who directed Dead Alive. Forget that we’re trekking back to Middle Earth, the arrival of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is itself a return to a status quo … Continue reading
Were I to describe Silver Linings Playbook in a single word, it would be “insistent”. We should consider the source, though; after all, David O. Russell is nothing if not blunt in his cinema and mercurial as a man. So when Silver Linings Playbook grips you by your lapels and stares you in the eyes … Continue reading
Last week I slacked off and broke my normal cross-posting habit: I published three reviews over at Go, See, Talk! and neglected to link to each of them over here. Well, better late than never as the adage goes, so permit me to catch you all up on what you might have missed today, starting … Continue reading
If anything, Pusher is a perfect example of what a remake both should and should not be; it’s well-made and engaging, but it also brings nothing new to a story we’ve already seen before. Continue reading
The Wachowski siblings are back four years after their last directorial effort, this time with Tom Tykwer in tow, and their adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is a magnificent opus of optimism and hope. Continue reading
Ben Affleck’s third feature film tells a story so utterly bonkers that it could only come out of a Hollywood studio. Except that the CIA devised the entire plot and actually put it into action over three decades ago. What’s even weirder– it worked. Continue reading
Today, I finally get around to publishing a belated link-post for everything Looper-related that I’ve disseminated across the Internet– from my full review, in which I award the film a perfect score, to the essay I published just yesterday. Continue reading
Alternate title: How I Met Elizabeth Olsen and Made Her Fall in Love With Me. Continue reading
The writer of Training Day takes his umpteenth stab at telling a story of heroism, crime, and male emotion filtered through the lens of South Central law enforcement and gang culture. Is David Ayer just a one-trick pony, or is he a driven perfectionist? Continue reading
Bill Graham and I tackle The Words together via the long-unused Double Take format. Bill is a bit kinder to it; I’m more or less merciless, as Brian Klugman’s carnival of nepotism is one of my least favorite releases of the year. But you’ll have to read the full article to get our full perspectives. Continue reading
One day spent within the confines of Oslo can be a daunting task for a recovering drug addict, and Norway’s Joachim Trier has dedicated his second directorial feature to documenting that conflict with artfully frigid flourishes. Continue reading
Dax Shepard might have a minor if flawed hit on his hands with Hit & Run, a romantic comedy car chase movie that defies the odds by actually being a lot of fun. Continue reading
Pancakes, perversity, obscenity, inept adults, gloomy children, and an ill-fated canoe trip through the Danish countryside. If you thought The Hangover “went there”, prepare yourself for Klown, a movie so raunchy as to nearly defy description. Continue reading
The big question The Bourne Legacy must answer: does it successfully restart the franchise and pick up where Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass left off? In a word, no. Tony Gilroy, assuming the role of director for the first time in the series, bungles story, character, and action here in big, unforgivable ways while poor Jeremy Renner struggles gamely against the film’s weaknesses. Continue reading
Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis team up with Jay Roach, Shawn Harwell, and Adam McKay to lampoon politicians, super PACs, and foolish constituents, but despite their best comic intentions and efforts, they only get halfway there. Continue reading
Step Up Revolution isn’t the sort of film that demands a great preamble; long before you set foot in the theater, you’ll have already developed an idea of what the movie is about through marketing and, frankly, through family resemblance. So with that said, I highly recommend checking out my full review of the latest … Continue reading
Is The Watch a movie about America’s immigration policies and the way that we perceive and treat immigrants, legal or not? Is The Watch a movie about what our friends and neighbors are really like on the inside? Is it about general prejudice in America? Is it at least funny? No? So…what is it? Continue reading
Seth MacFarlane takes his first jaunt into feature filmmaking with a really, really fantastic premise, a solid cast, and an utter inability to get past the tics that make his television shows so mundane and useless. Continue reading
I’m in a strange, middling place with Rock of Ages, the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name; at any distance it’s something of a mess, but I had a good time with it anyhow. I’m not sure if that’s a recommendation or not, though Tom Cruise is certainly compelling enough as drugged-up, … Continue reading
Inky slime, metallic ampoules, body horror, androids, and questions about creation make up the DNA of Ridley Scott’s much-anticipated Prometheus. Does the film live up to its hype and serve as a worthy entry in the Alien franchise? Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 