In Bad Moms Mila Kunis is Amy Mitchell, a married woman with a lot on her plate. Amy works as a sales representative for a hip Chicago coffee company. She also is a stellar full-time mom to two children, Dylan and Jane. She loves many things about her life, but she is also harassed, underappreciated…Read more Film Review: Bad Moms (2016)
Film Reviews
Film Review: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
What is there to say about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (TCM), Tobe Hooper's 1974 masterpiece about murderous hillbillies and their attack on a group of isolated youths? The film has been endlessly studied since its release, not to mention fawned over and pointed to by scholars, film buffs and famous directors as being one of…Read more Film Review: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Film Review: Farewell, My Queen (2012)
My interest in the French Revolution began several years ago. I was in Paris and shamelessly decided this was where I'd read Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities for the first time. Putting aside the face-palming aspects of that decision (cause, you know, I must have looked REAL cool reading THAT book in THAT city), I…Read more Film Review: Farewell, My Queen (2012)
Film Review: Game Change (2012)
One of the most engaging appearances in Game Change, the 2012 HBO film about Sarah Palin and the 2008 election, is not Julianne Moore take on the infamous former governor of Alaska. It is actually Tina Fey, who spectacularly impersonated Palin in a number of SNL skits during the '08 cycle, and who has continued to…Read more Film Review: Game Change (2012)
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: A Dangerous Method (2011)
"Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable, just to be able to go on living." This line, uttered by Michael Fassbender's Carl Jung near the conclusion of David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, is indicative of the film's gravity and ambition. Focusing primarily on Jung's semi-fruitful/semi-tortured relationships with Viggo Mortensen's Sigmund Freud and Keira Knightly's Sabrina Spielrein,…Read more Film Review: A Dangerous Method (2011)
Film Review: Confirmation (2016)
The HBO film Confirmation, which premiered on the network last April, benefits greatly from the time of its release. Depicting the 1991 confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, which became a media circus when sexual harassment charges were leveled at Thomas by law professor Anita Hill, Confirmation asks provocative questions about race, gender…Read more Film Review: Confirmation (2016)
Film Review: Stroszek (1977)
After finishing my graduate program last month, I decided to treat myself to a few presents. Ok, quite a few presents. Fine, more like a couple of shopping sprees. One of the more notable items that arrived during this barrage of Amazon deliveries was a collection of Werner Herzog films, aptly titled Herzog: The Collection.…Read more Film Review: Stroszek (1977)
Film Review: The Mission (1986)
In attempting to sum up a film like 1986's religious epic The Mission, one word comes to mind: schism. Beautiful and ugly, complex and glaringly simplistic, The Mission is a big, powerful and, at times, amazing film. It is also, however, a film at war with itself, never gelling into a fully-realized masterwork. Perhaps it's…Read more Film Review: The Mission (1986)
Film Review: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Considering its high box office and favorable reviews, a sequel to 2013's The Conjuring always had a feeling of inevitability. This year's unimaginatively titled The Conjuring 2 fulfills this possibility, reuniting director James Wan, stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, and screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes in the process. Working together, this team offers up…Read more Film Review: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Adam Mohrbacher 