Author Archive
Noir City at SIFF – Angel Face
The title of Otto Preminger’s Angel Face (1952) works perfectly in describing the seemingly innocent façade of both its characters and the film itself. This is a great film noir, a story that keeps us guessing even when we think we have everything locked down.…
READ MORE
Film Review – Just Go With It
There were two things I was thinking about while I was watching Just Go With It (2011), the latest comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. The first is that this is not a very good movie, but simply a retread of just about every…
READ MORE
Film Review – Sanctum
If there is a lesson to be learned from watching Sanctum (2010), it is this: do NOT be a stupid person. No offense to the stupid people out there, but the characters that fill up this sad excuse of a suspense thriller are so head-scratchingly…
READ MORE
Film Review – The Way Back
Peter Weir’s latest film, The Way Back (2010), is an endurance test for both the characters in the film and for the audience watching it, and I mean that as a compliment. Throughout the film’s one hundred and thirty three minute time span, we watch…
READ MORE
Film Review – The Rite
While I don’t believe that The Rite (2011) will go down as one of the great horror films like, say, The Exorcist (1973), it does have a surprisingly effective way of telling its story of a skeptical young priest and the experienced exorcist knowing that…
READ MORE
Indie Film Review – NY Export: Opus Jazz
I’ve made it no secret that I am an admirer of dance. To me, dancing is probably the most expressive art form. You may not notice it at first, but dancing is all around us. When a football team scores a touchdown and the fans jump wildly…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Green Hornet
When I read that The Green Hornet (2011) was set for a big screen adaptation, two things stuck out at me like a pair of sore thumbs. The first,was that the movie was going to be co-written and starring Seth Rogen. If you remember, this…
READ MOREAn Appreciation – Some Like it Hot
Billy Wilder’s screwball classic Some Like it Hot (1959) left such an impression on me that I can still remember the exact time and place where I first watched it. I was eighteen years old, attending my first year of college. In the main student…
READ MORE