Bill Condon is a long way from Gods and Monsters and Kinsey – the critically acclaimed, powerfully acted and thematically complicated pair of bio-pics that he made in the beginning of the 2000′s. Following 2006′s Dreamgirls, the agonizingly drawn out stage-musical adaptation, where Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar by magically convincing the world that she…Read more Film Review: Breaking Dawn – Part II (2012)
Film Reviews
Film Review: The Human Resources Manager (2010)
Road movies are a tricky business. There are few things in life that are quite as invigorating as uprooting yourself from the banal circumstances of “everyday” life and heading out to unexplored territory. Unfortunately, the process of converting this experience to a cinematic format is rarely successful. The Human Resources Manager is no exception to this trend,…Read more Film Review: The Human Resources Manager (2010)
Film Review: Arbitrage (2012)
At one point in Nicholas Jarecki’s film Arbitrage Richard Gere’s hedge fund big wig, Robert Miller, is asked if he honestly thinks money is going to solve the problems he has created for himself, to which he responds, “What else is there?” The line is spoken with a beautiful air of genuine, nuanced incredulity and…Read more Film Review: Arbitrage (2012)
BluRay Review: Four Weddings and a Funeral
Published on Film Monthly in 2012 A young Hugh Grant, periodically sporting a pair of round-rimmed glasses and looking curiously similar to a certain bespectacled young wizard, is the focal point of director’s Mike Newell’s (the man behind the Goblet of Fire and Prince of Persia) endearing yet forgettable 1994 feature, Four Weddings and a…Read more BluRay Review: Four Weddings and a Funeral
Really That Bad? – Roberto Benigni’s Pinocchio
In cinematic history there are very few films that were more destructive to a career than Heaven’s Gate was to Michael Cimino. While perhaps not entirely on that epic level of failure, Roberto Benigni (remember him?) experienced a similarly dramatic fall from grace after the release of his adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s prolific tale of…Read more Really That Bad? – Roberto Benigni’s Pinocchio
Film Review: Man of Steel (2013)
At one point in Man of Steel the ethereal spirit of Big Blue’s long-deceased papa Jor-El grimly assures his son that he will not only be able to save Lois Lane from the fiendish General Zod, but all of humanity. This statement becomes increasingly more absurd as the movie moves towards its finale: a big albeit vapid rumble in the…Read more Film Review: Man of Steel (2013)
Film Review: Sutures (2009)
Violence has been an integral quality of film since its inception. From the wild antics of Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp to modern-day meditations such as Irreversible, Fight Club or Eastern Promises, violence has nearly always been present. Used sparsely and responsibly on-screen movie violence can carry enormous power. It has the ability to launch explorations…Read more Film Review: Sutures (2009)
Film Review: Nine (2009)
As this decade comes to a close it is interesting to look back upon some of the more significant developments that have occurred inside the film industry. Over the past few years we have experienced the rise of the Apatow comedy, the superhero film genre has infested the marketplace, and the musical regained its commercial footing, starting in 2001 with Baz…Read more Film Review: Nine (2009)
Film Review: The Usual Suspects (1995)
In the mid-90‘s, before Hugh Jackman grew out the mutton chops and long before Superman would return to an apathetic public, an outrageously young director named Bryan Singer would craft a small film called The Usual Suspects. Not only did Suspects become critically and commercially successful (allowing Singer to unleash the first of what would…Read more Film Review: The Usual Suspects (1995)
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)
Adam Mohrbacher 