“Let’s See De Niro Do This”: On Orlando Bloom in Deep Cover

Amazon Prime's action-comedy Deep Cover is a decent original film, which is a pretty big thing to say in our era of never-ending streaming slop. Perhaps the main reason why it's so watchable is surprisingly Orlando Bloom. He's deeply funny and delightfully self-aware in the film. Bloom plays Marlon Swift, a failed actor and improv…Read more “Let’s See De Niro Do This”: On Orlando Bloom in Deep Cover

Film Review: Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

After the rousing, Oscar-winning success of Gladiator, it was no surprise that Ridley Scott returned to the historical epic with 2005's Kingdom of Heaven. However, this time around his efforts were met with gentle indifference. There were no Oscar parties, nor were there any massive box office hauls. In fact, the film barely broke even.…Read more Film Review: Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Film Review: The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

With the release of the second installment of The Hobbit Trilogy it is now clear that the power and emotion of the first LOTR films is not coming back. The good news is that the pacing problems which plagued Jackson's first film are less detrimental here. The seemingly endless run-time of The Desolation of Smaug…Read more Film Review: The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (2013)