The Forgaughtens: Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
I was pretty forgiving when I wrote last week about the 2000 Charlie’s Angels film. Yes, it’s packed with some really inappropriate and disappointing instances of cultural appropriation, but the three leads and the film’s very manic “turn of the millinnium” energy help it mostly succeed nonetheless. Thankfully, its sequel, 2003’s Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle […]
The Forgaughtens: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
This is the first in a series of posts revisiting “forgotten” films that were released between the years 2000 and 2009, or the aughts. All films will be discussed in the context of their release, as well as their cultural relevance today, and at the end of each post, a film will be given a […]
Nymphomaniac: Volume II Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In Volume I of Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, sex was used as a means of discovery and toy for manipulation. In Volume II, it’s a goddamn weapon of mass destruction. What’s arguably even more shocking than this film’s depravity and bleakness—or its copious and explicit sexual content—is von Trier’s willingness and ability […]
Nymphomaniac: Volume I Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Volume I of famous Danish provocateur Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac saga is…well…incomplete. This portrait of a woman’s journey into sex addiction builds and builds and builds, and if Volume II delivers on the promise introduced here, these two drifting hours of character development will feel essential. On their own, they just don’t. […]
The Company You Keep Review
RATING: (2 STARS) If there’s one thing to take away from Robert Redford’s The Company We Keep, it’s that few individuals keep better company than Redford. No film this year (unless, in the cast of Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder, we’re counting the many great actors and actresses missing from the final cut) boasts a […]
Lawless Review
RATING: (3 STARS) It’s hard to think of a more appropriate title for John Hillcoat’s new Prohibition drama than Lawless (though the title of the novel the film is based on—The Wettest County in the World—is a close second). The film takes place in Franklin County, Virginia during the early 1930s—an area of the country […]
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review
RATING: (1.5 STARS) Oh, Michael Bay. You fooled me again. Here I am thinking Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third film in a franchise I’ve despised to this point, might be some mindless fun. After all, reviews weren’t quite as savage this time around. But no, this film is basically a carbon copy of […]
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Review
RATING: (2 STARS) To be perfectly blunt, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a mess. The frustrating thing is that there’s a good film in there somewhere, but it’s bogged down by a slew of dull subplots, jarring shifts in tone and pace, and an ending that’s a total cheat. I didn’t care for Oliver […]
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review
RATING: (2 STARS) This review will likely sound a lot more positive than the star rating indicates. That’s because I actually kind of begrudgingly enjoyed it—but in a “that was so bad, it’s good†sort of way. If you take it as a comedy, the film is moderately funny (although the scenes that are supposed […]
