"Would you like to be a part of this history?" When Jimmy Hoffa poses this question in Martin Scorsese's 24th feature film - the gangland saga The Irishman - the movie is already approximately a third of the way through its epic, three-and-a-half hour runtime. Yet despite its length, tonal restraint and veritable cadre of…Read more Film Review: The Irishman (2019)
Robert De Niro
Film Review: Dirty Grandpa (2016)
Dylan Thomas's 66-year-old poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," shows up repeatedly in our culture, most recently ad nauseum in the 2014 film Interstellar. It’s not hard to ascertain why. Thomas's words capture a provocative theme, outlining the inevitability of death while celebrating the struggle for survival. This theme is at the…Read more Film Review: Dirty Grandpa (2016)
Film Review: The Intern (2015)
I want to preface this review with a simple declaration: The Intern, Robert De Niro's big film from 2015, is not a travesty. This isn't a Dirty Grandpa, nor is it a Heist, Killing Season or The Big Wedding. Instead, The Intern is probably closest to De Niro's 2009 vehicle, Everybody's Fine. Like that earlier…Read more Film Review: The Intern (2015)
Top Ten: Best Freak Outs in Film
There is nothing quite like a good film freak out. Whether it is James Cagney giggling with macabre glee before spraying a 1930′s cityscape with gunfire or Nicholas Cage flailing about the inside of a bear costume, a good freak out can light up a movie like nothing else. From the hilarious, to the disturbing,…Read more Top Ten: Best Freak Outs in Film
Alright, Alright, Alright: Matthew McConaughey and the Inescapable Fusion of Player and Part
After a lost decade of rom-coms Matthew McConaughey roared back to life with a trio of indies in 2012. In each film he created lively even somewhat audacious performances. While all of these characters were embraced with acclaim – particularly his turn as the chiseled strip-club owner Dallas from Magic Mike – dissenters began to rear their ugly…Read more Alright, Alright, Alright: Matthew McConaughey and the Inescapable Fusion of Player and Part
Film Review: Everybody’s Fine (2009)
At the turn of the century Robert De Niro went to sleep in regards to his professional life. Throughout the 2000′s he would slumber, drifting in this zombified state through cartoon camp (The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle), listless drama, (Hide and Seek, Men of Honor) and abrasive self-parody (Meet the Fockers, Analyze That). However,…Read more Film Review: Everybody’s Fine (2009)
Adam Mohrbacher 