Regardless of the medium they work in, it is always important that an artist knows when to stop. Unfortunately, most filmmakers typically take insightful adages (such as less being more) and viciously throw them out the window when they latch onto a viable (and profitable) character or premise. Such is the case with the 1973…Read more Film Review: Hell Up In Harlem (1973)
Film Reviews
Film Review: Kill the Messenger (2014)
Since its inception 40 years ago, the War on Drugs has been controversial, and even today it inspires debate over its efficacy, cost and character. This context partially frames director Michael Cuesta's new film Kill the Messenger, adapted from the 1998 book Dark Alliance by late journalist Gary Webb. In Webb's book – based off…Read more Film Review: Kill the Messenger (2014)
Film Review: Cold Mountain (2003)
After the runaway success of Anthony Minghella's 1996 epic weepie The English Patient, it served as no surprise that the writer/director returned to similar material with 2003's Cold Mountain. The two films share several similarities. Both stories focus on nascent love ruined by war, and in each case the pair of lovers under duress are…Read more Film Review: Cold Mountain (2003)
Film Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
When media titans like Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey are involved with a project there is always the risk of having it colored by their influence. Thankfully, one has to do a little bit of sleuthing to unearth their involvement in The Hundred-Foot Journey. The words "From Academy Award Winning Director Steven Spielberg" are mercifully…Read more Film Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
Film Review: Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom ends on lyrical note. A swooping aerial shot spins around in a moment of sublime romanticism, capturing the rosy color of the African countryside at sunset. A small figure walks across the hills: it is Idris Elba's Nelson Mandela, who is pumping his fists in the air with a rousing…Read more Film Review: Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
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)
Film Review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Zack and Miri (an effective Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) are two childhood friends who share an apartment and a friendship that they both insist is utterly platonic. Never amounting to anything after leaving high school ten years ago the two slackers spend their days wallowing about their dire financial situation, and working dead-end jobs…Read more Film Review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Film Review: Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Early on in Dallas Buyers Club Matthew McConaughey's character, rodeo cowboy and electrician Ron Woodroof, is diagnosed with HIV. The two doctors who deliver this news, one being a soulless bureaucrat (Denis O'Hare), the other a bleeding heart (Jennifer Garner), attempt to outline the severity of his condition, finally telling him that he has only…Read more Film Review: Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Film Review: Gravity (2013)
A heartbreaking fact about the past seven years of cinema has been the deep void left by Alfonso Cauron, who had last surfaced with one of the best films of 2006, Children of Men. Cauron finally returned to the silver screen this year is with another massive cinematic vehicle and has received an inordinate amount…Read more Film Review: Gravity (2013)
Film Review: Prisoners (2013)
Prisoners is set in a economically depressed small-town suffering from barely hidden villainy. It's a chilly, nihilistic film, standing out even in a year filled with pessimism. Most of this you've seen before and most of it (particularly the ending) feels a tad preposterous. Additionally, the film falters because it can't decide on how best…Read more Film Review: Prisoners (2013)
Adam Mohrbacher 