Film Reviews

Film Review: Cherry Bomb (2010)

Cherry Bomb is a film which strives to channel the sort of throw-back, grindhouse exploitation reveled in by the likes of Tarantino, Rodriguez, Roth and every other dork who ever raided his or her local video store for forgotten “treasures” from the 1970′s. However, while these cinephiles were able to imbue their films with a…Read more Film Review: Cherry Bomb (2010)

Film Review: Dear Mr. Gacy (2010)

Almost 20 years have come and gone since John Wayne Gacy was put to death for his grisly handwork. For people who remain unfamiliar with Gacy’s story the ghoulishly titled “Killer Clown" was convicted of a string of brutal slayings (a majority of which occurred in the Chicagoland area) in 1980. In the interim since Gacy’s…Read more Film Review: Dear Mr. Gacy (2010)

Film Review: The Last Stand (2013)

There has never been a more truthful mantra from Arnold Schwarzenegger than his iconic “I’ll be back” phrase from 1984′s The Terminator. Time and time again Arnie has proven his resilience against the inevitability of time, age, and even an infuriating (and perhaps misguided) political career. Nobody has been able to keep the big dog…Read more Film Review: The Last Stand (2013)

Film Review: The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Appropriating part of the title of Jackson’s upcoming third Hobbit movie, There and Back Again, seems like an appropriate way to describe the experience of watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. After a nine-year break returning to Middle Earth proves to be a surreal experience, especially for those who came of age with the original trilogy. Things look the…Read more Film Review: The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Film Review: Sweet Sixteen (2002)

Adolescence has rarely looked bleaker than in Ken Loach‘s grimy, grim coming of age film from 2002, the ironically titled Sweet Sixteen. Bizarrely described on its Netflix casing as a “…heartwarming…” story, Loach’s film is a powerful albeit somewhat conventional portrait of blighted lives, hopelessness and the allure of criminality in a crumbling, washed-out Scotland.…Read more Film Review: Sweet Sixteen (2002)

Film Review: Bruce Almighty (2003)

One only needs to briefly scan Jim Carrey's filmography to understand his malleability. From the loveable albeit idiotic yo-yo’s of Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura to the searing, nuanced performances delivered in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Truman Show, Jim Carrey has proven that he can do it all. So why does…Read more Film Review: Bruce Almighty (2003)

Film Review: Everybody’s Fine (2009)

At the turn of the century Robert De Niro went to sleep in regards to his professional life. Throughout the 2000′s he would slumber, drifting in this zombified state through cartoon camp (The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle), listless drama, (Hide and Seek, Men of Honor) and abrasive self-parody (Meet the Fockers, Analyze That). However,…Read more Film Review: Everybody’s Fine (2009)

Film Review: Batman Returns (1992)

Batman Returns is undeniably defined by the influence of its director, Tim Burton. This is both a positive and a negative for the film’s overall success as a big-screen depiction of the Batman legend. On one hand Batman has never been given a more arresting aesthetic treatment. The production design by Bo Welch  and the…Read more Film Review: Batman Returns (1992)

Film Review: The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)

Thematically complex, emotionally powerful and brutally un-romanticized, Ken Loach‘s The Wind That Shakes the Barely is a towering portrait of the Irish War of Independence and is one of the prolific director’s best films. While hardly objective in its treatment of history (all of the British figures are defined only by their anonymity or their…Read more Film Review: The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)