[Editor’s Note: I shouldn’t need to warn you about language and “adult themes” in an editorial about The Hateful Eight but… yeah] When Quentin Tarantino burst onto the scene with Reservoir Dogs, it was clear the trajectory of his career was going to be built off scintillating dialogue, violence, and an underlying theme of men […]
This recap series has been dedicated to one thing, detailing the events leading up to last night’s episode. From the moment a television show takes off the conversation about the finale begins to dominate the headlines. We read into the subtext, the minutia, trying to glean any insight into what makes these people tick and […]
As the second to last episode of Mad Men began it was hard to ignore the title card that appeared on my Tivo. The Milk and Honey Route. This week’s episode was written by Carly Wray and Matt Weiner and directed by Weiner. As the title suggests it was all about finding the Promised Land. […]
There are only two episodes left in the entirety of Mad Men and while that alone is a depressing thing to write Matt Weiner served us another episode full of soul-searching and heart breaking. This week’s episode was written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner and directed by Phil Abraham and does not waste anytime […]
As we cruise through the final episodes of Mad Men it’s important to note the on going theme of recollection. Where have we been? What brought us here? That probably sounds redundant since it feels like I’ve written that every week but it helps to keep in mind that those questions are not only the […]
Mad Men is back! I mean, it’s been back for two episodes but last night you felt the last season hit its stride. We got full helpings of Don, Betty, Sally, Glen, Joan, and even a great runner involving what’s happening in the future. Poetic and foreboding? That’s Mad Men’s bread and butter. Or Bourbon […]
For an episode that opens with Don Draper making chocolate milkshakes things sure took a dark turn as Don spends another episode yearning for a life that could have been lived. New Business feels like an inevitable episode, one that doesn’t excite with outrageous set pieces or twists but one that gets to the heart […]
Somewhere in the two-hours and forty-two minutes of Richard Linklater’s masterpiece you’ll find your mind wandering. Not because it’s boring or not engrossing but because Boyhood is a movie about reflection, one that begs for your nostalgia and capitalizes off of every person in the audience having grown up at some point. Or hoping they […]
The week before my eighth birthday the only thing I wanted more than a new bicycle was to see Crimson Tide. It was early May and I distinctly remember the adrenaline that coursed through my veins as my father closed the car door and informed me that we were on our way to the AMC. […]
Oliver Stone’s Savages is his best work in years. Or so the poster says. Given the slump Stone has been in since 2004’s epic failure Alexander, that’s not saying much. The film has been adapted from a book with the same name. I have not read the book and seeing the film did not encourage me […]
While this seems like the ultimate “White Whine,” sometimes watching and reviewing films can be difficult. Sure there are days when the movies sucks or they’re spectacular, or you had a friend who worked on them so you’re biased, but those feelings all have reconcilable ends. Ted is different. Ted left me . . . […]
Fresh off the indie hit Humpday, writer/director Lynn Shelton thrusts into the spotlight with Your Sister’s Sister. The basic premise lies in the trailer but for time’s sake we’ll summarize it in one sentence: Iris invites Jack to stay at a cabin but when Jack arrives her sister is there and he sleeps with her. […]
In a year when one of the top films pits kids against each other in an arena, where the world watches central Pennsylvania as one of the most grotesque pedophilia cases in history rocks a small town, and every political analyst seems to turn to the age old outcry of “someone think of the children”, […]
When you sit down to watch a buddy cop film you know what to expect; two mismatched partners find friendship as they solve an important case and involve themselves in each other’s lives. The paradigms of the genre have been set, our expectations skewed, and as an audience we have been emotionally conditioned to react […]
We all remember the distinct times in our lives where someone has put us down, excluded us, or made us feel like we do not belong. I can remember noogies in the recess yard, pantsing in gym class, and the nasty nicknames only kids (who remain the cruelest creatures) could come up with. It has […]
For me, the greatest kid’s film in the world was made in 1985 and starred a rag-tag group of adolescents trying to save their town from greedy country club owners. The Goonies literally shaped my childhood. I had it on VHS and watched it so many times that the opening seven minutes and closing fifteen […]
20. The Magdelene Sisters – Water. For the Nuns. 19. Breakfast On Pluto – Traditional: Guinness with a dash of Blackberry Currant Juice and a Brown sugar rim 18. Five Minutes Of Heaven – Bushmills on ice 17. Omagh – Jameson and Ginger 16. Bloody Sunday – Irish Car bomb 15. Michael Collins – Michael […]
The Lorax is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories. It’s a morality tale, a sort of new-age parable about appreciating what you have and taking care of what you’ve got. It is not as anti-industry as it is pro-practicality. It’s modern economical ethics for kids with rhymes. The 2012 film adaptation takes this core […]
Throw out everything you know about Found Footage films. Throw it out. From a realm that used to rely on realism and a medium that thrived on narratives as close to reality as possible comes the story of three high school geeks planning the party to be remembered for all time. Spoiler alert, they succeed. […]
I was extremely excited when I got a special sneak preview of Act Of Valor, the highly promoted film starring actual Navy SEALS and based on “real life” scenarios they may face in the field. I have a number of friends who served in the armed forces and a few who, while in active […]
I hate New England. I hate New England so much it makes me forget how much I hate New York. The life of an NFL fan is a tough one, especially for us Philadelphians. I’m a mid-20’s man living in between two cities (Boston and New York) who not only get more respect than my home […]
Recent films rely on one convention. It’s sad but almost every Hollywood film is about character redemption. We love seeing someone with a problem they must overcome. We love going from liking them to loving them and we get catharsis from the sunset that brings everything together in the end. What makes Young Adult such […]
The Academy Awards are always a hotly debated item. Nominees are frequently the result of campaigning, elbow rubbing, and politicking. That being said, I decided to go against the grain to nominate the films I think deserved everyone’s attention. Also the ones I thought were awful. I tried to delve into the movies that stuck […]
There will be a ten-hour viewing for Joe Paterno and not enough people will get to say goodbye. There will be countless memorials, television specials, and I am fairly certain an eventual movie and none of it will be enough to encompass the man. We will see books, paintings, and modern art masterpieces and they […]
Few modern directors have the skill and precision to nail both large budget genre film and tiny indie projects. Steven Soderbergh embodies the concept of versatility with his second released film in under a year, Haywire. With his twenty-fifth film in twenty-two years Soderbergh branches out from his norm to the world of high action […]
Cameron Crowe seems a long way away from his glory days in the late nineties/early oughts with this wishy-washy family film. The premise involves Matt Damon as a single father of two whose wife has recently died. Instead of doing the sensible thing like grief counseling, he quits his job and moves across the state […]