TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 3 – “Restoration”

It was probably unrealistic to expect that Arrow could stay on message, or maintain the high quality displayed in the first two episodes of its fourth season. If Season Three taught us anything it's that the show often prescribes to a one-step-forward, two-steps-back mentality, and episode three of the fourth season adheres to that mold…Read more TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 3 – “Restoration”

TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 2 – “The Candidate”

The second episode of Arrow's fourth season takes what worked with the premiere and doubles down on it. Beginning with a blast of the show's now almost patented action, which depicts a reunited Team Arrow battling it out with Darhk's minions, "The Candidate" wastes very little time diving into Arrow's central preoccupations. Chief among these…Read more TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 2 – “The Candidate”

TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 1 – “Green Arrow”

Remember when CW's superhero melodrama Arrow was good? How about when it was great? If you answered "no" or "barely" to those queries rest assured you aren't alone. In fact, after Season Three turned out to be an agonizing and ultimately doomed affair, it seemed like many people had written off the emerald archer. Who…Read more TV Review: Arrow Season 4, Episode 1 – “Green Arrow”

Double Feature: The Kid and Modern Times (1921 and 1936)

One of the first idiotic articles I wrote online previewed a revival screening of Charlie Chaplin's 1931 classic City Lights. In said article, I pontificated that City Lights is one of the films that shows why Chaplin became an immortal figure in cinema. Of course, missing from my piece was information that would substantiate this…Read more Double Feature: The Kid and Modern Times (1921 and 1936)

Film Review: Scarecrow (1973)

The 1970s are fondly and nostalgically remembered as a golden age for American cinema, which saw the release of a number of iconic, groundbreaking films. Of course, despite all of the Easy Riders and Raging Bulls of that period, the era also contained a number of stinkers. Perhaps more common however than either of those…Read more Film Review: Scarecrow (1973)

Film Review: Metropolis (1927)

Fritz Lang's towering Metropolis is a film that needs no introduction. Its influence on cinematic history is so powerful, so resonant to this day, that trying to write anything novel about it is probably an exercise in futility. However, seeing how futile is my middle name I've decided to give it the old college try,…Read more Film Review: Metropolis (1927)

The Complex – Chapter V: The Application 

At 11 p.m., the night felt different than it did at 2 a.m., just like how 2 a.m. felt different from 3. Sitting in the office, he tried to savor the fleeting nature of the night's beginning, something only possible because he knew it would end. The first thing to set in was almost always…Read more The Complex – Chapter V: The Application 

Film Review: Observe and Report (2009)

The moment most critical for understanding Jody Hill's 2009 black comedy, Observe and Report, is played entirely for laughs. It occurs when the central character of the story, mall security guard Ronnie (played brilliantly by Seth Rogen), has resigned himself to following the antisocial nihilism of his co-worker Dennis (a hilarious Michael Pena). The two guards…Read more Film Review: Observe and Report (2009)

Film Review: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

"This never happened to the other guy." Uttered by George Lazenby in the opening scene of his only James Bond appearance, these infamous words signified the beginning of a new era for cinema's most famous super spy. They also encapsulate how Lazenby's sole Bond vehicle, 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS), possessed a strange,…Read more Film Review: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Film Review: The Age of Adaline (2015)

Now available of DVD and BluRay, The Age of Adaline is a film that feels like it should mean more. Telling the story of a woman named Adaline (Blake Lively) who one day mysteriously stops aging, the film is the type of high concept epic that is rarely made, (unless you’re David Fincher and you…Read more Film Review: The Age of Adaline (2015)