There are two things present in every Coen Bros film – crime and fools. Usually the fools are the ones committing the crimes and trying (failing) to get away with them. However, it never feels like the brothers have any sympathy towards the “heroes.” On the contrary, it often feels like they enjoy making up [...]
Zombie movies have been one of the staples of horror cinema for years, known best through George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Horror and comedy rarely make a fine mix; one of the very few exceptions was the 2004 hit Shaun of the Dead. A new film enters that exclusive list, Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland. [...]
The adventures of Tucker Max, his sexual escapades and how his selfish antics bring him and his two friends on the craziest bachelor party that goes awry. This is the basis for the novel adaptation of the NY Times bestseller ‘I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell’. Through the swirl of sex, booze and midgets, the [...]
There are certain things, rules if you will, that should adhere to all Bruce Willis action vehicles. The first being him mouthing off to any and every one who opposes his authority. The second is Willis being shot at eighty billion times, followed by him serving up the best kinds of ass-kicking (a.k.a. rule number [...]
Definition of the word “Surrogate:” Noun – a person appointed to act for another; a substitute.
In the near future human kind has replaced themselves with robotic entities known as Surrogates. The Surrogates were created 14-years earlier by a Dr. Canter (James Cromwell) as a way to help paraplegics gain the ability to move and walk [...]
John Krasinski, dare I say, has a pretty good eye for directing. His debut behind the camera, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, while not perfect, is visually well-crafted. The film is nothing if not dense. There is nary a wasted shot or line throughout the brisk 80-minute run time. In Brief Interviews, Krasinski not only [...]
I have not lost anyone significant in my life, not lately anyways. The last close relative of mine who died was my grandfather in ’91 so I have not had to go through the healing process of grief in a very long time (knock on wood). My wife, however, has not been so fortunate. Her [...]
Robert Siegel could have made a documentary using me for Big Fan. I suspect it would have been cheaper to follow me around for an entire football season and watch me dedicate my entire life to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Much like Patton Oswalt’s Paul, I spend my entire week thinking about the next game with [...]
Ok, I get it. I’m a guy in his twenties who puts down the remote whenever he catches Commando on TV. What do I know about a period piece or romance films? Yes, Bright Star wasn’t number 1 on my must-see list, but a film that was directed by Jane Campion, nominated at the Cannes [...]
The Fix Is In. That is the title of episode 168 of “This American Life” where the story of Mark Whitacre was first heard by screenwriter Scott Burns and eventually made into a movie. Such is Hollywood. After seeing the film yesterday, I looked up the Chicago Public Radio program and listened to it this [...]
Friends, I have just received new demands. My colleagues say I’m being a troll. We have to be nice. Diablo Cody, and any bad comments toward her, must be saved for private and not told directly to her, and our compadres, whose souls shriveled while they watched the subject movie, will have lost time. But [...]
Not many people take much interest in the lives of poets, but filmmaker Jane Campion certainly does. In her latest feat, the seasoned director puts her own period stamp on an early era love affair in “Bright Star”. Centering on the love affair between Fanny Brawne and popular Romantic poet John Keats, the story brings [...]
