Directed by Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit is a scattered period piece ostensibly about the 1967 Detroit riot but which centers around an incident at the Algiers Motel that left three black teenagers dead and more heavily beaten. So much of the movie is limited to the long night at the motel that should just be the entire … Continue reading Detroit (2017)
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City Heat (1984)
Directed by Richard Benjamin City Heat is a total dad movie. It stars Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds, doing very much Eastwood and Reynolds things, as lawmen mowing their way through prohibition era gangsters in studio backlots. Just about the whole thing takes place at night, like many films noir, but there is something decidedly … Continue reading City Heat (1984)
Venom (2018)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer Okay, so in Venom a parasite takes partial control of reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and turns him into a cannibalistic Spiderman type of thing, but don't be fooled (!), this movie is just like every other passable studio superhero movie out there. Sure, there are some interesting choices, Hardy has fun … Continue reading Venom (2018)
Life During Wartime (2009)
Directed by Todd Solondz I love Life During Wartime because I love Todd Solondz's movies. I have no idea where this might rank among his works or how good of a movie it is. All I know is that it is uniquely Todd Solondz and I found several moments either very moving, very dark, very hilarious or all … Continue reading Life During Wartime (2009)
Clown (2014)
Directed by Jon Watts Clown, about a man turning into a child-eating clown, is disturbing and thus incredibly effective. It's one of those troubling horror movies that, though it follows certain conventions, wades into frightening, disgusting territory and provokes incredibly upsetting feelings within the viewer. On one hand such feelings may make it easy to write … Continue reading Clown (2014)
The Crying Game (1992)
Directed by Neil Jordan The Crying Game is both quite unexpected and very familiar. It's a movie made up of two distinct stories, handing off the baton between two protagonists while the most interesting character remains off to the side. She is Dil (Jaye Davidson), the love interest of a soldier, Jody (Forest Whitaker) kidnapped … Continue reading The Crying Game (1992)
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Directed by Steven S. DeKnight Pacific Rim: Uprising is very much just an 'okay' movie. I'm not sure what more there is to say. The performances are a bit of a drag, if only because there seems to be a lot of effort only to recapture what worked about the first movie, but the visual … Continue reading Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Directed by Tim Burton Beetlejuice is a macabre wonder. It's a blend of the same bright, colorful, purposefully Mayberry-esque small town that you see in David Lynch's Blue Velvet, with the dark and slimy world of something like a German expressionist horror film. Adam and Barbara (Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis), are a happilyy married couple in that … Continue reading Beetlejuice (1988)
Crazy Heart (2009)
Directed by Scott Cooper In Crazy Heart an aging musician finds renewed purpose thanks to a brief romance with a much younger woman. That musician is Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), a country star who has traded in theaters and stadiums for bowling alleys and dive bars. Blake's journey is ripe with movie cliches and tropes. He's … Continue reading Crazy Heart (2009)
Cop Car (2015)
Directed by Jon Watts In Cop Car two ten year-old runaways stumble upon a cop car somewhere in the woods. They hop in, fantasizing their way through a joy ride. Then they find the car keys and after some brief debate jump into an actual joyride. The cop is Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin Bacon), and for … Continue reading Cop Car (2015)
