Film Review: Hell Up In Harlem (1973)

Regardless of the medium they work in, it is always important that an artist knows when to stop. Unfortunately, most filmmakers typically take insightful adages (such as less being more) and viciously throw them out the window when they latch onto a viable (and profitable) character or premise. Such is the case with the 1973…Read more Film Review: Hell Up In Harlem (1973)

Film Review: Gone Girl (2014)

David Fincher once said that he has "always been interested in films that scar." It's easy to pick up on this ghoulish preoccupation in the director's own output, with barely a chuckle or ray of sunlight to be found throughout his nine features. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym3LB0lOJ0o Fincher's latest opus, the supremely accomplished Gone Girl (adapted by novelist turned…Read more Film Review: Gone Girl (2014)

Film Review: Behind the Candelabra (2013)

Director Steven Soderbergh's 2013 HBO film, Behind the Candelabra, chronicles the personal life of iconic performer Liberace, and is one which practices a remarkable level of restraint. While this does seem to strip the film of some psychological depth, it also gradually becomes a boon to the story. Moving throughout the only slightly heightened reality…Read more Film Review: Behind the Candelabra (2013)

Film Review: Kill the Messenger (2014)

Since its inception 40 years ago, the War on Drugs has been controversial, and even today it inspires debate over its efficacy, cost and character. This context partially frames director Michael Cuesta's new film Kill the Messenger, adapted from the 1998 book Dark Alliance by late journalist Gary Webb. In Webb's book – based off…Read more Film Review: Kill the Messenger (2014)

The Expendables 3: On the Grim Acknowledgement of the Action Hero’s Setting Sun

Sylvester Stallone's stubborn, borderline insane refusal to surrender to the normal human aging process is by now well-known. It has been well publicized for years, and the musclebound star has been communicative about it. In fact, a good majority of his work since 2006's Rocky Balboa has dealt with his rapidly advancing age in some…Read more The Expendables 3: On the Grim Acknowledgement of the Action Hero’s Setting Sun

Film Review: Cold Mountain (2003)

After the runaway success of Anthony Minghella's 1996 epic weepie The English Patient, it served as no surprise that the writer/director returned to similar material with 2003's Cold Mountain. The two films share several similarities. Both stories focus on nascent love ruined by war, and in each case the pair of lovers under duress are…Read more Film Review: Cold Mountain (2003)

Film Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

When media titans like Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey are involved with a project there is always the risk of having it colored by their influence. Thankfully, one has to do a little bit of sleuthing to unearth their involvement in The Hundred-Foot Journey. The words "From Academy Award Winning Director Steven Spielberg" are mercifully…Read more Film Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

Film Review: Side Effects (2013)

Side Effects is a delicious piece of cinema, one which gradually reveals hidden layers that play to one's base instincts. Now, that being said, the film is also preposterous. Additionally, its lurid treatment of the culture of psychiatry and big pharmacy can't entirely obfuscate a rather grating, moralizing tone. It's somewhat of a disappointment that…Read more Film Review: Side Effects (2013)

Film Review: Noah (2014)

When one thinks of the biblical tale of Noah's Ark, rock giants don't immediately spring to mind. There are no pitched battles either, where hordes of half-crazed garbage people bum rush the infamous boat, desperately attempting to escape wide-spread ecological devastation. In fact, much of Darren Aronofsky's adaptation of the Noah mythos feels like a…Read more Film Review: Noah (2014)