The worst thing you can say about The Wolf of Wall Street is that there’s too much of it. Thematically, though, that’s appropriate, since it’s all about the way that excess breeds excess, so it only makes sense that the movie be an indulgent orgy of Martin Scorsese’s best and worst cinematic impulses. Telling […]
I’m sure I’m not blowing anyone’s mind here when I say that David O. Russell is one of the greatest directors of our generation. He’s definitely in my personal top 5. And the biggest thing that links together O’Russell’s work, and which speaks to me personally, is his absolute dedication to characters who are trying […]
Returning once again to the sheer, overwhelmingly anticipatory joy of fans everywhere, The Hunger Games, a popular book series now turned even more popular series of big budget Hollywood releases, returns with the second installment, Catching Fire. Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Jennifer Lawrence as the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen as well returning rolls from […]
It’s difficult to determine if there is simply an ingredient missing or if something is wrong with the entire recipe. In Charlie Countryman, originally titled The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Lawless) plays a traveling nomad who falls deeply in love with a foreign cellist player, portrayed by Evan Rachel Wood (The […]
Following up his pre-financial crisis film, Margin Call, writer-director J.C. Chandor’s second film, All is Lost, hits indie theaters like a storm. The film opens with a voice over and quickly jumps to a sleeping Robert Redford who is awoken from a collision with a shipping container. Floating amidst the Indian Ocean, Redford seems effortlessly […]
Richard Curtis is a man who is extraordinarily good at what he does. He writes (and sometimes directs) British romantic comedies and he does it with more consistency than almost anyone else working in that genre. He has more movies on my favourites list than any other writer (even Aaron Sorkin and Nora Ephron top […]
A while ago, while watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I found myself seriously wondering if I was over superheroes. It’s blasphemy, I know. But I just felt like their stories had lost the ability to really entertain me. And I wonder if the whole Marvel thing – the ambitious, multi-picture, world-spanning insanity of it – was […]
At this point, it is boring for me to tell you that 12 Years a Slave is a fantastic movie. Still, spoiler-alert, it is. It’s not, by far, a perfect movie, but it is a fascinating one. At this point in time, the “slavery was bad” Oscar-bait film has become cliché, but that doesn’t […]