A Late Quartet is certainly one of the sturdiest, unassuming films that I've seen in a while. Written and directed by Yaron Ziberman with a screenplay assist by Seth Grossman, the film is a straightforward drama with only modest ambitions. While unsurprising in its storytelling and aesthetics, A Late Quartet features superb acting and a…Read more Film Review: A Late Quartet (2012)
Film Review: The China Syndrome (1979)
The two most important scenes of 1979′s The China Syndrome are the two static shots of network television monitors which bookend James Bridges' film. The shots of television monitors depict members of the television media covering puff-piece stories. This establishes an immediate and powerfully condemning connection with the deplorable, 24 hour media circus of the…Read more Film Review: The China Syndrome (1979)
The Complex – Chapter I: The Night Shift
Six months had passed since he had accepted the job, a part-time position working nights. The apartment complex where the job was located was one of those relics erected at the height of suburban sprawl, resting on an isolated campus amidst freeways and thoroughfares like a mid-Atlantic island, catering solely to the automobile crowd. There…Read more The Complex – Chapter I: The Night Shift
Film Review: Stromboli (1950)
With the War Trilogy behind him, the esteemed Roberto Rossellini moved himself out of the grime and the gloom of the war-torn European mainland with 1950's Stromboli. This would be the first film that the Italian heavyweight would make with the too-beautiful-for-words Ingrid Bergman. In Stromboli the actress plays Karin, a woman from Lithuania who…Read more Film Review: Stromboli (1950)
Film Review: A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
With its requisite one-liners, cackling, villainous dandies and violence free from moral inspection, the resurgent 80′s action vehicle is here to stay. Unfortunately, the results seem to be very hit or miss. Despite what you may have heard, A Good Day to Die Hard is not an atrocious film, it just isn’t a very good one. Rounding out the trio of new…Read more Film Review: A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
Hunchbacks, Hellfire and ANArKH: On the Differences and Shared Delirium of Two Frollos
As the primary antagonist from Victor Hugo's iconic novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dom Claude Frollo has appeared in all of the book's countless adaptations. What is a testament to this character's depth is how memorable he remains regardless of the medium. Take for example Disney's 1996 adaptation, which on its surface seems like…Read more Hunchbacks, Hellfire and ANArKH: On the Differences and Shared Delirium of Two Frollos
Film Review: Germany Year Zero (1948)
Aside from Vittorio De Sica there is no name that dominates the national film movement of Italian Neorealism more than Roberto Rossellini. A few years before the heavenly Ingrid Bergman would send Rossellini her now iconic letter, the Italian master was hard at work filming a series of searing war-time tales: Rome Open City, Paisan,…Read more Film Review: Germany Year Zero (1948)
American Hustle, Angels in the Outfield, Ed Wood: On the Various Forms of the Ensemble
With American Hustle finally being released in "fly-over" country; aka the boonies, aka the middle of the country, aka anywhere that is not New York or LA, one can at last enjoy the all-star cast which dominates the film. In watching Hustle it's hard not to think about the power of actors, especially the power…Read more American Hustle, Angels in the Outfield, Ed Wood: On the Various Forms of the Ensemble
Film Review: The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
With the release of the second installment of The Hobbit Trilogy it is now clear that the power and emotion of the first LOTR films is not coming back. The good news is that the pacing problems which plagued Jackson's first film are less detrimental here. The seemingly endless run-time of The Desolation of Smaug…Read more Film Review: The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Philosophy of the Bedroom: On The Insights and Limitations of Sade’s Dialectic
In his day the Marquis de Sade was a social pariah, an embarrassment to his family and a lecher whose pornographic sensibilities attracted the derision of Napoleon himself. However, in the roughly 200 years since his rather unremarkable death at the Charenton Asylum, Sade's life and work have been the subject of a revival and…Read more Philosophy of the Bedroom: On The Insights and Limitations of Sade’s Dialectic
Adam Mohrbacher 