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American history has seen its share of sweep-under-the-rug stories that we avoid talking about. Perhaps I was too young to completely understand the misguided and utterly corrupt events that marred the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during the late 1990s, which are widely known as the Rampart scandals. These scandals are the focus of Oren Moverman’s crime drama Rampart, which finally gets its wide release [...]
In Darkness is one of the foreign films nominated for this years’ Academy Awards. It comes from Poland and is directed by famed female director Agnieszka Holland. I remember when I was in college I took a class on women directors in cinema and Agnieszka Holland was one of the filmmakers they talked about. We even screened one of her earlier films, Europa, Europa, which [...]
When you actually think about it, it’s surprising we didn’t get a found-footage superhero movie before 2012. The superhero genre has been going for decades, but has really gained steam since the success of the newest Batman franchise. Likewise, the found-footage genre has substantially increased since the success of The Blair Witch Project back in 1999. Combining both of these genres, like Josh Trank’s Chronicle, [...]
One thing to be said about Perfect Sense is that while it was not what I expected (in a good way), it is an original and beautifully crafted film. Starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green, the film follows scientist Susan (Green) working on finding a cure to a strange disease affecting the whole world. She meets Michael (McGregor), a talented chef working at a restaurant [...]
It took me a little while to be able to start writing this review for The Flowers of War because I had to recover from watching it. This film is one of the most beautiful and hardest film I have ever had to watch. Directed by Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Hero, House of the Flying Daggers) and starring Christian Bale, the film is [...]
The Man vs. Nature genre has seen its fair share of movies, with the majority being unfortunate pieces of work. While the theme may come up a lot, films that are willing to take risks are the ones with the opportunity to prosper, becoming more than what viewers have come to expect. In terms of Joe Carnahan’s (Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team) The Grey these risks [...]
Fans of Janet Evanovich’s eighteen-book mystery series will need no introduction to Stephanie Plum, but for me, Katherine Heigl’s latest comedy, One for the Money, is my first introduction to the character and her world. As with any book adaptation there have been quite a few strong opinions about whether Katherine Heigl was the right pick for the character. Since I haven’t read any of [...]
When it comes to national and historical tragedies, previous movies have taught us to err on the side of caution, meaning wait as long as possible. That doesn’t mean that the horrific attacks of 9/11 can’t be used in cinema; however, it does mean that fictional work that directly uses the tragedy will be highly controversial, especially if the film debuts just 10 years after [...]
If you are tired of seeing skinny actresses kicking the ass of men three times their size, then Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, Haywire is for you. Starring mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar Gina Carano, Haywire tells the story of Mallory Kane, a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor doing lots of dirty and dangerous jobs at which she excels. The movie [...]
Fresh off the heels of the late year push by Hollywood comes the mostly dreaded January and February releases. Although I find this unfair to some quality films, it is unfortunately the route most studios take. On one hand, I wanted to give Contraband a legitimate shot, but on the other hand, I was afraid it’d play out like every other New Year action film. [...]
