Author Archive
Film Review – Dear Mr. Watterson
In fifth grade, our “cool” teacher Mr. Horne assigned the class a “Reading Day,” encouraging us to bring in a book of our choice and sit silently while he spent the day catching up on paperwork. I lugged in a stack of Calvin and Hobbes…
READ MOREFilm Review – Homefront
Originally conceived as a starring vehicle for himself, Sylvester Stallone adapted Chuck Logan‘s novel Homefront into a screenplay that then promptly sat on a shelf to gather dust. By the time it was finally set to go into production, Sly deemed himself too old and…
READ MOREFilm Review – Delivery Man
Vince Vaughn has comfortably slipped into a suit of smarmor ™ for the better part of his career. Following a brief and mostly unsuccessful foray into darker territory (Return to Paradise, Psycho, The Cell), Vaughn seemed content embodying slight variations of the wise-cracking, button-pushing jerk…
READ MOREFilm Review – Nebraska
Alexander Payne‘s filmography is akin to Wes Anderson‘s in that it’s instantly recognizable as being his own unique style. You could have plopped me in a theater seat and showed this to me sans opening credits and I like to think I could have nailed…
READ MOREFilm Review – Last Vegas
When the first trailer for Last Vegas began making the internet rounds, there was nary a comment section that didn’t immediately call it out as being “The Hangover for old people!” An understandable assessment given the locale, but, where the Hangover series reveled in raunchiness,…
READ MOREFilm Review – Machete Kills
The Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino pet project Grindhouse went mostly unsung, but even its detractors seemed to share a fondness for the faux trailers that hinged the two films. Fan outcry soon led to a full-fledged Machete feature, an over-the-top “Mexplotation” flick starring the always stoic…
READ MOREFilm Review – Zero Charisma
Zero Charisma seems like a curious choice for Nerdist Industries’ first foray into movie production. Not on the outset, of course. The story of an overgrown nerd with a penchant for pop culture references and a no-bullshit attitude seems right in the wheelhouse. But this…
READ MORETV Review – The Blacklist
What separates an homage from blatant theft? A knowing (if not literal) wink to the camera? A “thank you” credit wedged between key grips and craft services? Maybe a thumbs up from Mr. Jonathan Demme himself would do the trick, but for the time being,…
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