Film Review: Memories of Murder (2003)

Bong Joon-ho's masterful Memories of Murder is a great work of humanism, one which easily transcends its genre-trappings. Utilizing the 1980s Hwaseong serial murders as its launching pad, the film formulates a searing indictment of South Korean society from that era. It also parses the psychic scars left on those who were caught up in…Read more Film Review: Memories of Murder (2003)

On Nostalgia, American Pie and Otherness in the Early “Aughts”

Like many people, nostalgia runs my life. As a child of the swinging 90s, who came of age in the first half of the aughts, I have a particular affinity for certain cultural products. From Boy Meets World to Batman: The Animated Series, that era's media is something I find undeniably compelling, even if its…Read more On Nostalgia, American Pie and Otherness in the Early “Aughts”

Film Review : Ex Machina (2015)

Audacious, powerfully acted and thematically rich, Ex Machina is easily one of the best films of the year. Simultaneously eerie and funny, entertaining and esoteric, and featuring what is sure to be one of the year's great villainous performances from Oscar Issac, Ex Machina is a film destined to linger in the cultural imagination. It…Read more Film Review : Ex Machina (2015)

Film Review: Big Eyes (2014)

Over the past 30 years it has often been difficult to determine who Tim Burton is. He ain't no screenwriter, that much is certain. Any Burton film where he has received story credit has largely been a mood piece, with a barely perceptible narrative drive. He also has shown himself to occasionally be a dubious…Read more Film Review: Big Eyes (2014)

Film Review: Avengers – Age of Ultron (2015)

At some point in the mess that is Avengers: Age of Ultron, the titular heroes retreat to a bucolic, isolated farm, owned by the archer known as Clint Barton/Hawkeye. Serving as the place where he stashes his kids, and inexplicably Linda Cardellini (unfortunately relegated here to a doting housewife), the Barton ranch sequence encapsulates everything…Read more Film Review: Avengers – Age of Ultron (2015)

Film Review: White God (2014)

For anyone who has ever loved, cared for, or, hell, even petted a dog, White God will prove to be a searing, uncomfortable experience. Meshing heightened-realism with allegorical horror, Hungarian writer/director Kornel Mundruczo's film powerfully connects on both an intellectual and emotional level. Although perhaps a little on the long side, White God is a…Read more Film Review: White God (2014)

Film Review: Hot Rod (2007)

In 2004 Will Ferrell cemented himself as the premiere comedy star with Anchorman. With its barrage of gags, unapologetic stupidity and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink ethos, it was a definitive comedy film of the "aughts." Nearly ten years later, the long-gestating sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, was released. Overlong and forced, the film embodied that classic adage:…Read more Film Review: Hot Rod (2007)

Film Review: Spellbound (1945)

A good friend of mine once said that your average Alfred Hitchcock film consists of little more than "white people eating on trains." With him not typically sprouting off contrarian views, I was surprised by this statement and more than a little amused. It also colored my subsequent viewings of Hitch's work.  No longer do…Read more Film Review: Spellbound (1945)

“Do You Really Think This Will Change Anything?” – How Marvel’s Daredevil is a Half-Measure

Superheroics are inherently stupid, and the best comics acknowledge this. The Batman canon has wallowed in this harsh truth for years, with its characters (in every medium) openly wondering if the Caped Crusader does more bad than good. Moore famously designed his seminal superhero text Watchmen to be the genre's epitaph. Its central cast of…Read more “Do You Really Think This Will Change Anything?” – How Marvel’s Daredevil is a Half-Measure