I was really looking forward to Magic Mike. I used to think Channing Tatum was a bit of an oaf, but I started to come around when The Vow proved he can sell a love story, and I was fully on board after he knocked 21 Jump Street out of the comedic park. After that, […]
Most reality stars want to break into “the biz”. Some of them even manage to do it, whether it be on a TV show about home renovation/real estate (The Bachelorette‘s Jillian Harris on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition or Survivor‘s Russell Hantz on Flipped Off), travelling the world in weird ways (Boston Rob’s Around the World […]
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. […]
While American politicians abjectly deride the Scandinavians for being ‘pinko commies’, Hollywood has been taking notice of their considerable cinematic talent, finding every opportunity to import some of their best films for American remakes. David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Matt Reeves’ Let Me In are excellent examples, but no Scandinavian film […]
I had an important revelation this past weekend: 11 year old me was kind of an asshole. I had this revelation while watching the super duper awesome and totally worth the $17.50 I paid for it 3D version of Titanic. For years (14 to be exact), I have maintained that James Cameron’s opus to ridiculous […]
Here’s a well-known traditional Japanese proverb: “the world sucks”. Filled with deception, greed, and amoral opportunism, honesty and trust have become nothing more than archaic misnomers and fantastical abstractions for naïve dreamers and gullible idealists. As such, there are people out there who see life as nothing more than a game, and when that game […]
Having devoured the books in a matter of days, I was more than excited about the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. With the inevitable elimination of that all-too-troublesome first person narrative, thoughtful and promising casting, a director who is a sworn fan and oh-so-welcome authorial input on the screenplay, I was pretty convinced that […]
This was a tricky movie to make, no one’s going to argue that. There’s never been more sensitive ground for modern American filmmakers to tread than the memory of 9/11. But Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close should have moved me. It made me cry, I’ll admit to that, but it didn’t move me- and yes, […]