A good friend of mine once said that your average Alfred Hitchcock film consists of little more than "white people eating on trains." With him not typically sprouting off contrarian views, I was surprised by this statement and more than a little amused. It also colored my subsequent viewings of Hitch's work. No longer do…Read more Film Review: Spellbound (1945)
Film Reviews
Double Feature: Into the Woods – Dracula Untold (2014)
Welcome to the first Adam Mohrbacher Double Feature! This is a new type of post where yours truly will attempt to quell the inherent verbosity of my writing. This is, essentially, an exercise for my benefit only, where I will challenge myself to review two similarly-themed films in under 1000 words. Now, for those well-versed…Read more Double Feature: Into the Woods – Dracula Untold (2014)
Film Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
Ana Lily Amirpour's freshman effort, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, is the ultimate example of a hodgepodge film. Self-described as "the first Iranian vampire western," Amirpour's audacious narrative does indeed dance across multiple genres. As many "critics" have noted, the film also tips its hat to the work of the video store brats…Read more Film Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
Film Review: Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Steeped in atmospheric dread, Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre is easily one of the most distinctive vampire movies ever made. With its mystical imagery and foreboding score, the film gradually takes on the appearance of a bad dream, a waking nightmare from which none of the characters can escape. That being said, it is not…Read more Film Review: Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Film Review: One, Two, Three (1961)
Billy Wilder is a name synonymous with Hollywood classics. During his tenure as a movie-making big shot, Wilder produced a string of acclaimed features, including Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the Hole and Some Like it Hot. With such iconic films littering the man's resume, it is perhaps no surprise that are many entries…Read more Film Review: One, Two, Three (1961)
Film Review: John Wick (2014)
As my good friend and fellow dweeb Nick Allen once pointed out: middle-aged killing machines have become the new normal in contemporary Hollywood actioners. Initiated by Liam Neeson's crusty John Mills in Taken, and expanded upon by Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher), Denzel Washington (The Equalizer), and Pierce Brosnan (The November Man), wizened bruisers have suddenly become as…Read more Film Review: John Wick (2014)
Film Review: Irma la Douce (1963)
Anyone familiar with the classic film The Apartment would think that a reunion between its director Billy Wilder, and its stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine would produce another charmer. Well, I'm here blabbering on the Internet to tell you that you're dead wrong. Reuniting just three years after their mega-hit, this distinguished trio produced…Read more Film Review: Irma la Douce (1963)
Film Review: Foxcatcher (2014)
Foxcatcher, the new film by director Bennett Miller, is defined by two attributes. It is a testament to the power of intuitive casting, and perhaps the year's greatest exploration of the promise of America. Recounting the bizarre relationship between Olympic wrestling brothers Dave and Mark Schultz, and millionaire John du Pont, Foxcatcher is a restrained…Read more Film Review: Foxcatcher (2014)
Film Review: Interstellar (2014)
There was a time when Christopher Nolan was cinema's golden boy. After the success of his early films, and especially after legitimizing the comic book film (with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) as a serious art form, it appeared that the director could do no wrong. Yet, in the interim between 2008 and 2012 it…Read more Film Review: Interstellar (2014)
Film Review: Hercules (2014)
When one thinks of Brett Ratner - one of Hollywood's resident homophobes - great filmmaking doesn't exactly spring to mind. Over the past ten years this paunchy businessman killed a billion dollar franchise (X-Men), gradually made another irrelevant (Rush Hour), and even found time to desexualize Pierce Brosnan and Selma Hayek - an idea one would…Read more Film Review: Hercules (2014)
Adam Mohrbacher 