2000s Reviews

Film Review: The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Beloved the world over, it feels like there is very little that already hasn't been said about The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. All I can really add is that this is perhaps my favorite film of all time. It launched my interest in cinema as a serious art form and…Read more Film Review: The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Film Review: Punch Drunk Love (2002)

If you ever wanted to see the duality of man, all you have to do is watch Punch Drunk Love. Paul Thomas Anderson's warm, wonderful film repackages Adam Sandler's rageful albeit juvenile on-screen persona into a still hilarious yet far more complex look at the relationship between loneliness, anger and love. Sandler stars as Barry…Read more Film Review: Punch Drunk Love (2002)

Film Review: The Accidental Husband (2008)

In post-9-11 New York, marriage is the air, or so it may seem. The unpredictable nature of love and the fickleness of the human heart will rear their mighty heads. And when they do, they shall tear apart some couples, bring others together and force one woman to make a fateful choice in 2008's forgotten…Read more Film Review: The Accidental Husband (2008)

Film Review: Dagon (2002)

We're still waiting for a high budget, no bullshit film adaptation of an H.P Lovecraft story. There have been notable efforts over the years. For instance, recent Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro  bent over backwards to bring an adaptation of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness to fruition a few years back. The film was going to cost…Read more Film Review: Dagon (2002)

Film Review: Monster (2003)

With 2003's Monster and now 2017's Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins has proven herself to be a master at depicting fallen worlds, where women must navigate morally-ambiguous societies. In Wonder Woman, that involved the titular hero coming to grips with the notion that mankind is not universally good, only driven to destruction due to the unseen…Read more Film Review: Monster (2003)

Film Review: The Family Man (2000)

Nicolas Cage and his lunatic energy have often proven hard to neuter, although not for a lack of trying. 2000's The Family Man, which sees Cage as a Wall Street goon who magically gets a chance to live an alternate life, is a perfect example of this. This melodrama attempts to curtail the thespian's obvious…Read more Film Review: The Family Man (2000)

Film Review: Shadow of a Vampire (2000)

Most people with even a cursory awareness of art cinema have seen or heard of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, F.W.  Murnau's 1922 masterwork. Nosferatu is a film so powerfully rendered, so insanely memorable, that its continuing resonance over the past nine decades feels self-explanatory. This resonance has taken on many forms: from the appearance of the Nosferatu…Read more Film Review: Shadow of a Vampire (2000)

Film Review: Apocalypto (2006)

It's sometimes hard to remember that Mel Gibson is a formidable filmmaker. After the controversial release of 2004's Passion of the Christ, his arrests, and his slew of unhinged, drunken tirades, this talent became understandably lost in the shuffle. His 2006 effort Apocalypto (the last film Gibson directed) however, is a clear reminder of his directorial strengths. This ambitious, Mesoamerica-set action film…Read more Film Review: Apocalypto (2006)

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)