I remember my senior prom very fondly. It was at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, which is just about as awesome of a location for a prom as possible. I think the only place better would be in an ice castle, and that isn’t really feasible in the Midwest in May. But […]
For all the explosive action coming to the big screen from studios looking for the next blockbuster, it’s always nice to have something more contemplative (when done well). In the case of The Drop, there’s no shortage of elements that would fit right into a Shane Black film, or even (shudder) a Michael Bay flick. Fortunately […]
There’s a reason certain works of art are called classics. The word implies a sense of worth—an established importance that maintains relevance well beyond its debut. Classics are re-readable, re-watchable, re-listenable. It’s not just that they hold up; upon each revisit, you discover something new. I’ve seen the film Casablanca three times now. I remembered […]
CAUTION: Viewing Side Effects may lead to increased desire to watch Rooney Mara act in anything, feelings of anxiety that you won’t go bald as suavely as Jude Law, and intense depression that Steven Soderbergh is retiring from directing. In addition, there may be aggressive reactions to how sharp the story is, unusual thoughts brought […]
Going in with the right mindset, Boyhood is a refreshing masterpiece. This picture puts any other coming-of-age story to shame simply because it outclasses the generic, phony worlds we’re usually presented with. No one’s going for an Oscar, here. There are no forced clichés or cheap tactics. This is as real as life gets in […]
Captain America, Groot, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, — did one of those names seem like an outlier to you? If names like Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Star-Lord, and Drax the Destroyer seem overly foreign, Marvel Studios hopes to familiarize you with the introduction of its newest batch of heroes in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. […]
Hollywood maintained momentum as it transitioned to a new decade after its oft-touted “greatest year” 1939. 1940 introduced movie classics like Hitchock’s Rebecca, Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, John Ford’s film adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, and the more lighthearted The Philadelphia Story directed by George Cukor. The Philadelphia Story brings together Hollywood legends […]
The next time I sit down, determined to write good science fiction but floundering with a plausible concept, I’ll think of Lucy and remember that a simple premise yields the best results. So, if you have a problem with Luc Besson’s sci-fi funfest relying on the myth we only use 10 percent of our brains […]
My friend was so excited to see Hercules that he paid for everyone else’s ticket. He went on and on about how this was the role The Rock had always dreamed of playing. He talked it up so much that I was actually excited to see it. Little did I know, I was signing up […]
“Sometimes I think I’ve felt everything I’m ever gonna feel, and from here on out I’m not going to feel anything new, just lesser versions of what I’ve already felt.” That’s a line that Joaquin Phoenix‘s Theodore says in the first act of Spike Jonze’s Her, and after all the beauty of the rest of the film, […]
