Category Archives: Reviews

Final Destination 5: Are we dead yet?

Posted on August 15, 2011 by | 1 comment

I spent a whole chapter of my Master’s dissertation in Film Studies discussing how the term “torture-porn” is an eye-catching, hyperbolic phrase that should be swapped out for “torture horror.”  Which is to say, I’m not an exaggerating ninny anytime some gore hits the screen.  Final Destination 5, however, does make that term “torture porn” come to life in unsettling ways. Continue reading →

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Eastbound and Down – Offensive, vulgar, yet touching.

Posted on August 12, 2011 by | 1 comment

The second season of HBO comedy series Eastbound and Down came out on DVD a couple weeks ago, and having had a chance to peruse it, I feel obligated to say that it is without a doubt one of the best shows on television. Created by Adam McKay (Talladega Nights, The Other Guys), Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way, Observe and Report) and David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), the show boasts an inordinate amount of fresh, young comedic talent, and with the second season they take the show to new heights, allowing the characters and plots to develop far more than you ever thought they could. They elevate the typical raunchy TV comedy by adding pathos, and when it comes to a head in the second season, all you can do is sit back and be amazed. Continue reading →

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Hail Caesar! Rise of the Planet of the Apes seizes summer

Posted on August 8, 2011 by | 2 comments

Frequently, films of the big budget sort have issues because the men with money don’t respect the filmmaking process.  When building a skyscraper you don’t rush it to completion – otherwise you get catastrophic results.  The same goes for visual storytelling, in which character development will never happen if you don’t allot the appropriate amount of time to build a connection with the audience.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes respects this, which is why it’s the surprise blockbuster hit of the summer.  Forget Thor or even the decent Captain America, this film may even be better than Harry Potter 7 Pt 2.  Not bad for a bunch of damn dirty apes. Continue reading →

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Stake Land the great American vampire tale

Posted on August 5, 2011 by | 4 comments

It’s not often that a genre film doesn’t realize that it’s a genre film.  A comedy plays within the conventions of its niche and most horror films do the same.  Daybreakers is one of the best vampire films since the 1980’s unleashed Fright Night and The Lost Boys because, like its forerunners, it knows how to play to the genre trappings as intelligent entertainment.  That’s usually the best horror fans can expect from the genre. But films like The Blair Witch Project, Let the Right One In or Stake Land treat a horror tale like a drama and not a creature feature – which makes it all the more frightening. Continue reading →

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Beginners tackles love, memory, and history

Posted on August 4, 2011 by | 1 comment

The year is 2011 and this is a review about a story in 2003.  Oliver’s parents Hal and Georgia marry in 1955.  Georgia dies in 1998.  Hal comes out as a gay man after her death at 75.  He dies in 2003.  Beginners is a story about sorting out the past as we proceed through the present – also known as living.

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Crazy, Stupid, Love the best kind of romantic comedy – A genuine one

Posted on August 2, 2011 by | 1 comment

The love movie, just like stories about the subject in music or literature, has been done to death.  It’s hard to knock it though, since everyone at some point (save for the sociopaths in the house) has experienced love.  The passion.  The sweetness.  Late night talks.  Late night escapades.  The chemical high of the first few months.  And because we’ve all been there, we can spot a fake tale from a mile away.  Real life Love isn’t formulaic like the romantic comedies dumped into cinemas every February 14.  It’s the most personal, individual experience there is, save for the loss of a loved one, and few stories about Love can capture that lighting in a bottle.  Here’s a film that captured it on celluloid. Continue reading →

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DVD Tuesday: “Life During Wartime” a humanistic counterpoint to “Happiness”

Posted on July 26, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Todd Solondz his a rich history of making polarizing films.  He has given us some of the most detestable characters ever seen on screen, some of the most queasy and uneasy films to watch, and he consistently reminds us of our deepest failings.  He is absolutely no fun, but his newest film, Life During Wartime, strikes an odd chord. It’s certainly his most heartfelt, melancholic film to date, perhaps most of all because it follows the characters from his pitch-black comedy Happiness, 10 years down the line, just to see how they’ve changed. It is a beautiful and moving film – if you can stand to watch it. Continue reading →

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Captain America more than just star-spangled

Posted on July 24, 2011 by | 1 comment

Superhero Summer is coming to a close, with Thor attaining mild success (not nearly the reaction Iron Man received) and The Green Lantern struggling to not only earn back its massive production budget (some estimates reach $300 million), but avoid committing suicide after critical shaming.  Captain America: The First Avenger is the season closer and though it may not be as strong as this summer’s X-Men:First Class, it’s about as satisfying as The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man: a fun romp with a decently developed hero that doesn’t insult your gray matter.

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Three Must See Documentaries: Winter Soldier, Lake of Fire, S&man

Posted on July 18, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Within the U.S. at least, documentaries tend to live within two different frameworks: the first is the editorial harpings of Michael Moore. The second is Oscar-nominated documentaries that are either too depressing or too under-funded by distributor advertising to gain an audience.  Fortunately, things are changing:  last year three stunning documentaries managed to get serious attention while also stepping out of the box (Catfish, I’m Still Here, Exit Through the Gift Shop).  Also, the rise of Netflix Instant has put a plethora of documentaries at the finger tips of millions of people who might not have otherwise even seen the DVD cover of these films (2 of the 3 films on this list were titles I found at random on Netflix).  So here are three documentaries that will make you re-think your assumptions about documentaries. Continue reading →

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The End of an Era: Deathly Hallows Pt 2 sets new bar for fantasy

Posted on July 15, 2011 by | 8 comments

This weekend marks the last hurrah for the Harry Potter film franchise. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (book) was released in 1997, Pottermania fully hit the U.S. in 2000 with the release of Goblet of Fire,* the film franchise began in 2001, and the final book was released almost exactly four years ago.  Suffice it to say – we have spent a long time inhabiting the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling in one form or another.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 has sold an unholy number of tickets for the midnight premiere, with regular reports of sold out screenings a week in advance.  Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 will surely go out with a bang financially.  What’s so surprising is how it positions itself as one of the best fantasy films ever made – better even than any of the Lord of the Rings films. Continue reading →

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