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Indie Film Review – Anvil! The Story of Anvil
When you think of great rock bands, which ones do you think of? The Rolling Stones? U2? The Who? How about a band called “Anvil?” Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008) is an independent documentary by Sacha Gervasi featuring this band, and may be one…
READ MOREAn Appreciation – La Dolce Vita
There is a moment in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) that has remained fixed in my mind. It happens a little more than halfway through the film, where the protagonist has a tender scene with his father. This comes after the two of them…
READ MOREFilm Review – Paranormal Activity 2
Last year, a small, shoestring budgeted horror film took the world by storm and became arguably the most profitable movie ever made. Paranormal Activity (2007) proves that you can make an intense, effective, and suspenseful movie without the need for gore or brutality. The film…
READ MOREFilm Review – Conviction
The title of director Tony Goldwyn’s Conviction (2010) really works on two different fronts. The first about the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of a man who fit the mold of a brutal killer, but swears it wasn’t him. It also works as the representation of…
READ MOREFilm Review – Grizzly Man
For thirteen summers, Timothy Treadwell lived in the Alaskan wilderness near and amongst the wild bears of the area. He interacted with them, talked with them, even went so far as to go up to and touch them. During this time, he recorded over one…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Scenesters
The Scenesters (2009) is an inventive independent film written and directed by Todd Berger. In a way, it’s almost too inventive, to the point that it’s kind of difficult to explain what kind of movie it is. It’s part film noir, mystery, slasher film, pseudo…
READ MOREAn Appreciation – Raging Bull
The opening title sequence immediately puts the viewer in the world of the film’s character. A boxer, warming up in a ring, is the center of everyone’s attention, but he is all alone. Smoke rises up around him as if it came straight from the…
READ MOREThe Thrill of “Thriller”
Although it’s been well over a year now, it’s still hard to believe that we are living in a world without Michael Jackson. He was the star of stars, a pop icon that only comes once in a lifetime. The music and dance moves he…
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