Author Archive
SIFF Film Review – The Kings of Summer
Building a narrative around teenage runaways is not something writer Chris Galletta and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts invented, but at least they had the foresight to put a silly spin on it. Fed up with your parents? Screw it. Let’s go live in the woods. This…
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SXSW Film Review – Reality Show
“When people tell me ‘you are famous for being famous,’ I say ‘no, we are famous for having three TV shows.’” – Kim Kardashian Unease immediately sets in when this quote is presented in the opening moments of Adam Rifkin‘s abysmal faux documentary Reality Show,…
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Film Review – Mud
I don’t know if Matthew McConaughey’s agent took an especially artistic blow to the head or if one too many TBS airings of Failure To Launch set him down this new path, but if you’re reading this, sir, I’d like to buy you a Coke.…
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Film Review – Spring Breakers
Harmony Korine’s filmography to date is nothing if not provocative. His claim to (moderate) fame, 1995’s Kids, proved a seedy force to be reckoned with and traumatized teenagers of a certain age with its frankness towards adolescent sexuality. Continuing this despair-ridden trend with the likes…
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Film Review – The Call
You’re forgiven if you’ve seen a trailer or plot synopsis for Brad Anderson’s The Call and chalked it up to silly, sub-par thriller fare. These types of films are all too tragically common in the post-Oscar, pre-summer cinematic landscape. You know the ones. Movies in…
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Film Review – Side Effects
If Side Effects truly does end up being Steven Soderbergh’s final theatrical release (as he claims to have retired), no one can blame him for swinging for the fences. The director has worn many different hats in his twenty-plus years in the business, releasing films…
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Film Review – Amour
Even without context, the opening moments of Michael Haneke’s Amour are among the most harrowing and unforgettable he’s ever put on screen. That may seem daunting for those familiar with his previous work (Funny Games and Caché among others), but there’s a poignancy here that…
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Film Review – Promised Land
After the runaway critical and financial success of 1997’s Good Will Hunting, a reunion between actor and director was an exciting and somewhat inevitable prospect. Less expected was director Gus Van Sant’s experimental Gerry, a barebones effort pitting Matt Damon and Hunting co-star Casey Affleck…
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