If one were to compose a list of horror films that feature exemplary mood-building, the original Nosferatu would obviously make the cut. However, the lesser-known yet similarly-themed Vampyr would also demand inclusion. Written and directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc), Vampyr is a profoundly disturbing film, with a menacing tone that seems embedded…Read more Film Review: Vampyr (1932)
Film Review: In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
"The story of the Essex is the story of two men," we are told early in Ron Howard's latest film, the maritime adventure yarn, In the Heart of the Sea. It is a disingenuous statement however. While the film does grapple with important themes and contains a thrilling moment or two, it lacks well-written characters - male or female.…Read more Film Review: In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
“That’s Not for You to Decide” – On Choice, Identity and Self-forgiveness in Marvel’s Jessica Jones
Marvel's Jessica Jones has been correctly if exhaustively interpreted as a critique of abusive relationships and rape culture. It also lends itself to more general readings. The clash between David Tennant's Kilgrave and Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones highlights the importance human beings attach to the idea of functional agency. Many of the show's characters seem…Read more “That’s Not for You to Decide” – On Choice, Identity and Self-forgiveness in Marvel’s Jessica Jones
Film Review: 13 Hours – The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
Does Michael Bay have a spiritual side? There are glimmers of it found in his new film, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, particularly when a bearded grunt named Boon (played by The Office's David Denman) begins reading aloud from Joseph Campbell's book, The Power of Myth. However, for the most part Bay's take…Read more Film Review: 13 Hours – The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
On Creed, Sylvester Stallone and Why Now is the Time to Make “Poe”
This Thanksgiving, Sylvester Stallone returned in Ryan Cooger's Creed to play the iconic palooka Rocky Balboa for the seventh time. Standing easily as one of the greatest performances of his career (it's hard to top the original Rocky), the film beautifully bookends the man's work up to this point. Even better, it opens up new,…Read more On Creed, Sylvester Stallone and Why Now is the Time to Make “Poe”
Film Review: American Ultra (2015)
The cover art of the American Ultra BluRay depicts stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart walking coolly away from an apocalyptic explosion. With the fiery inferno raging behind them, they strut with a sort of casual abandon. Eisenberg has a pair of aviator sunglasses on, despite it clearly being night. Stewart carries a shotgun, but…Read more Film Review: American Ultra (2015)
Film Review: Steve Jobs (2015)
"I'm going to put a 1000 songs in your pocket." When Michael Fassbender's titular character utters this line late into the running time of Steve Jobs it takes you a second to register what he's talking about. When you do however you don't feel or think anything substantial. There is no marveling at the man's…Read more Film Review: Steve Jobs (2015)
Film Review: Spectre (2015)
"I don't know," James Bond says at one point in Spectre, when asked what would happen if he stopped to think about the reality of his violent life. This scene cuts to thematic core of Daniel Craig's Bond era. It is also, however, a moment you've seen before, specifically in Craig's first go-round as the…Read more Film Review: Spectre (2015)
TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 5 – “Haunted”
I never watched the short-lived Constantine TV show, which ran for one season on NBC. I am familiar with its comic book source material Hellblazer however, and its central character John Constantine. Profane, cynical yet deeply humane, he was (and is) a rich character, possessing the sort of hardscrabble, improvisational grit a world apart from…Read more TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 5 – “Haunted”
Film Review: Sicario (2015)
The lauded drug war film Sicario, produced by the semi-visionary director Dennis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy), is a good movie, just not a great one. Expertly shot, the film functions as a thrilling narco-crime drama, elevated (occasionally) into something operatic by commanding performances and palpable mood-building. Like Villeneuve's earlier films, the world of Sicario is a…Read more Film Review: Sicario (2015)
Adam Mohrbacher 