Days of Thunder Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The rap against Days of Thunder (or case for it, depending on your speed) over the last 30 years has been that it’s nothing more than a remake of Top Gun with race cars. In Roger Ebert’s review of the film, he outlined all the ways this film fits squarely into then […]
10 Performances to Watch This Fall
I’ve already written a bit about the movies that have my attention as the calendar turns toward autumn, but what about the performances? Too often, I overlook actors in favor of their directors and screenwriters (both when I write about films and when I anticipate them), but this fall’s crop of titles has the potential […]
2013 TIFF Movies to Watch: #50-#41
The Toronto International Film Festival is rapidly approaching, and I’ve identified the 50 most promising films on the TIFF lineup. Over the next five days, I’ll be counting them down. Today, the preview starts with François Ozon, Guillaume Canet, Nelson Mandela, and more! 50.) Visitors Program: Special Presentation Distributor: N/A Directed by: Godfrey Reggio Written […]
The Paperboy Review
RATING: (2 STARS) With The Paperboy, Lee Daniels has made a film best described as a brilliant disaster. His touch is unmistakable, interesting, and ballsy, but it’s also the film’s downfall. Watching The Paperboy, you can’t help but feel suffocated by an overwhelmingly unpleasant sense of camp. While blood, sweat, and Nicole Kidman’s urine spurt, […]
On the Oscar Bubble
The bubble is not a fun place to live. Just ask Virginia Tech basketball fans. I’m sure every actor or actress would love to be in the position of a Daniel Day-Lewis or Jessica Chastain this year, but the Oscars just don’t work like that. Someone has to be the last nominee in just as […]
Eyes Wide Shut Review
RATING: (4 STARS) If The Shining was Stanley Kubrick‘s experimentation with the horror conventions, his final film, 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut, is his perfection of them. Not since, The Silence of the Lambs (maybe even The Thing or Alien) has pure dread been so eloquently captured on film. And it’s arguably not even a horror […]
Rabbit Hole Review
RATING: (4 STARS) John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole takes you to an emotional place no man or woman ever wants to experience, but it does so with such unflinching honesty that it’s hard not to admire it. Is it a film I love? That’s a tricky question because I love what the filmmakers accomplish. I […]
Nine Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) I watched Fellini’s “8 1/2,†the inspiration for “Nine,†a few weeks ago in preparation for Rob Marshall’s big and bold musical. It was a heady trip into a film director’s fantasy. “Nine†proves to be a worthy follow-up, and it improves on Fellini’s film in one important way. As interesting as […]
