The Squid and the Whale: Criterion Collection
January 10, 2017
In writer/director Noah Baumbach’s career there is a demarcation line as represented by The Squid and the Whale (2005). There are the films he did before it that are more conventional romantic comedies that owe a lot of Woody Allen and the ones that...
8 Movie Collection: Star-Studded Drama
February 6, 2013
With All the Pretty Horses (2000), director Billy Bob Thornton set out to make a Heaven’s Gate (1980) for the new millennium by adapting Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name. However, movie studio executives took the film away from him and recut...
Solitary Man
September 2, 2010
Even though it wasn’t a commercial success, Wonder Boys (2000) was Michael Douglas’ best performance since Wall Street (1987). He has tried to recapture the spark of that film by seeking out other quirky yet flawed characters, like with the King of...
Zombieland (Blu-Ray)
March 11, 2010
Let’s make no mistake about this, Zombieland doesn’t exactly have much in the way of a plot – and that’s saying something when you consider it’s being compared to other zombie movies. Reportedly inspired by the British comedy Shaun of the Dead,...
Adventureland
August 21, 2009
Summer jobs are usually the bane of a young person’s existence. They are what you slog through so that you can afford to go to school. They are the drudgery you endure while daydreaming of going to the beach, hanging out with your friends or going to...
The Hunting Party
January 25, 2008
The Hunting Party (2007) harkens back to a trend in the 1980s of films about journalists in war-torn Third World countries: Under Fire (1983), The Killing Fields (1984), and Salvador (1986).These films featured flawed reporters putting their lives on...
Cursed: Unrated Version
November 1, 2005
“Everybody’s cursed. It’s called life.” – Ellie Cursed (2005) was a highly anticipated movie for fans of the horror genre as it marked the reunion of screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven—the creative team behind Scream (1996)....
The Village
July 4, 2005
The Village (2004) is an evolution, of sorts, for the M. Night Shyamalan formula. Instead of focusing on one protagonist as he has done in his previous films, he has shifted the focus to an ensemble drama. It is also his first period drama in which the...
The Village
December 16, 2004
There are those out there that consider M. Night Shyamalan to be this generation’s Hitchcock (albeit with a thirst for horror), and there are those who consider him a hack who relies on outlandish plot twists. If you didn’t like The Sixth...