Spy Game Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Spy Game is a film that carries over Tony Scott’s interest in the people who watch us from Enemy of the State, but it does so in a much different way. I had assumed going into this film for the first time that it would be a close sibling to Scott’s previous […]
True Romance Review
RATING: (4 STARS) True Romance is a fever dream. Who knew that combining the sensibilities of Quentin Tarantino the writer with those of Tony Scott the director would result in something that most closely resembles a 70s Terrence Malick movie? And what if that movie had one of the strongest, deepest casts of any movie […]
The Big Short Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Adam McKay is a tightrope walker. His latest film, The Big Short, is one of 2015’s funniest offerings. Its subject matter? The 2008 collapse of the American economy. McKay cut his teeth with Will Ferrell vehicles like Anchorman and Talladega Nights, which are both absurdist comedies with their own internal logics born […]
World War Z Review
RATING: (3 STARS) World War Z doesn’t add anything new to the realm of zombie movies, but it’s filled with so much chaotic tension that I couldn’t help but admire it. Directed by Marc Forster and based on Max Brook’s best-selling novel, World War Z shares as much with the post-apocalyptic action flick (like War […]
Killing Them Softly Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) It took five years following The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford for Andrew Dominik to return to the director’s chair. Five years is a long time to build anticipation for an obviously skilled filmmaker, and his skill is what gets Killing Me Softly through some narrative rough patches. […]
Moneyball Review
RATING: (4 STARS) While Moneyball might seem like an odd cinematic fit, the dream writing team of Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zailian transform the story of the 2002 Oakland A’s into something exciting, emotionally-involving, and surprisingly thoughtful. Though the film (thankfully) doesn’t shy away from the nuts and bolts of building a successful baseball team, […]
Burn After Reading Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) There are two types of Coen Brothers films—ones that examine human nature and consequence and others that are just utterly absurd. Burn After Reading, like The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona, falls squarely into the latter category. It’s a film about incomprehensibly dumb people doing incomprehensibly dumb things. None of it makes […]
Fight Club Review
RATING: (4 STARS) The first rule of fight club (the organization) is that you don’t talk about fight club. The first rule of Fight Club (the movie) should be that you don’t try to write a review of Fight Club, for words can’t do this film justice. It’s something you have to see to believe. […]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Until 2008, David Fincher was primarily a genre director—a damn good one, for sure, but a genre director nonetheless. With Se7en and Zodiac, many would argue that his specialty was serial killer films. So I think it surprised a lot of people that he was taking on a project as complex and […]
Se7en Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Se7en is one of the darkest serial-killer films of all-time. It contains a truly twisted killer and one of the most brutal endings I’ve ever seen in film. It has obtained real cult status since its release in 1995 and helped put director David Fincher on the map. I don’t believe it’s […]
Inglourious Basterds Review
RATING: (4 STARS) You know something, Quentin Tarantino. I think this just might be your masterpiece. Inglourious Basterds is a truly audacious film from one of my all-time favorite directors. Not many filmmakers can rewrite history, but Tarantino does and succeeds with flying colors. The film, a fusion of war films and spaghetti westerns, has […]
