I think we can safely assume that Sofia Coppola doesn’t think much about a life of Hollywood excess. Much like her fantastic 2003 film, Lost In Translation, her latest movie Somewhere follows a famous Hollywood actor at aRead Full Review

It’s weird to tag on to a phenomenon as late as I have with the Harry Potter films. Only within the last twelve months have I seen all the films that came before this year’s Deathly Hallows PartRead Full Review

I grew up in a suburb outside of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and spent my entire education in a public school system that I was convinced was teaching me close to nothing. I graduated from McArthurRead Full Review

I guess I understand why the posters and trailers for Never Let Me Go try to hide the fact that it’s a science fiction film. It’s a genre that has become overloaded in various cliches (usually involvingRead Full Review

It takes some serious sack to pull off a film like Buried. On the surface, it just seems like a giant, suspense film gimmick – even its throwback poster seems more like homage then actual serious filmmaking. AnRead Full Review

As much as I loved The Social Network, there was an aspect of the film that I felt was missing. It’s not a film’s fault if it doesn’t address the concepts that I wanted it to address, butRead Full Review

When I saw the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In, I was blown away. This doesn’t happen to me often when it comes to horror films – particularly ones about vampires. So, there wasRead Full Review

It happened in a moment. But when it did, it was irreversible. Eight years ago, nobody knew what Facebook was. Today, for all young people, a world without Facebook seems like a world without televisionRead Full Review

When Gordon Gekko first appeared in 1987’s Wall Street, his silky charm mixed with his snake-like, coldblooded nature fascinated audiences to the tune of an Academy Award for Michael Douglas, the man who played the infamousRead Full Review

If Ben Affleck had appreciable acting talent, he could probably be just as big as George Clooney. The likability factor is there, as well as the charm, and no one can deny his boyish, yetRead Full Review

When you consider the pacing of a film like The American, as well as the tone and the characterization, you soon realize how unsuccessful a film like this will be, unless its lead is one ofRead Full Review

I’m often decrying a film’s lack of character development and how certain directors don’t trust the actors to do what they need to do. Well, there’s another extreme when discussing that argument. There are certainRead Full Review

There’s a certain level of stupidity and insanity within The Expendables. So much so that I feel like writing a one-star review for it is actually like giving the film a complement. The movie sets theRead Full Review

I know the films of Adam McKay are meant to be sophomoric and silly, but I sometimes wonder if he realizes how unfunny his films really are. I don’t think I’m saying anything controversial whenRead Full Review

In a time when the multiplexes are filling with the complex, cyber-technology that leads to films like Inception, it’s almost refreshing to approach a movie like The Kids Are All Right. Very seldom can a film soRead Full Review

When Avatar was setting box office records and racking up Oscar nominations, a million people were asking the same question: “Doesn’t anybody realize that the screenplay is terrible?” Now, imagine if the visual innovation of a filmRead Full Review

There’s something poignant about the end of an era. For anyone born after 1985, the Toy Story films certainly feel like an era, cataloging times in our lives like snapshots. The first two, released in 1995 andRead Full Review

The list of exceptional spin-offs is pretty exclusive, but you’d have to etch Get Him To The Greek on that tablet. Borrowing a few characters from 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Greek is a cheery, sometimes dreary rock & roll comedyRead Full Review

By the end of the Summer of 2008, I was holding the very, very unpopular opinion that Iron Man–not The Dark Knight–was the best superhero film of the season. And now that I’ve had over a yearRead Full Review

A phrase you might hear a lot of when you listen to people talking about Edward Norton’s latest film, Leaves of Grass, is “tone issues”. This is a film that does not seem to care ifRead Full Review

In the world of the Ozark Mountains, there are some pretty sketchy characters to be found. Winter’s Bone is a pretty gritty portrayal of the darkest corners of this world. Quickly growing as a festival hit, theRead Full Review

Did Robert Altman perfect the Hollywood satire with his biting film The Player? Probably, but it hasn’t stopped many filmmakers from trying to top him. Punching The Clown is a film that gives it a shot. It’s aRead Full Review

Noah Baumbach seems to have a soft spot for insufferable assholes. In an effort to expose the darkest, more honest aspects of the human condition, Baumbach exposes his viewers to pretty grotesque psychological images. InRead Full Review

There’s a reason that psycho-sexual films don’t do well in the United States. As a country, America is supremely sexually repressed and gawk at the sight of real, sincere perversion being displayed on film. ItRead Full Review

Roman Polanski is a person whose reputation precedes him on several levels. But for the purposes of this blog, let us just say that every time he releases a new film, it is a eventRead Full Review

There are some films that are just too clever for their own good. Such is the case with Shutter Island, which had me entranced through its first two-thirds before imploding upon itself and vomiting in theRead Full Review

There are some people who, just by name alone, conjure up the thought: “That guy’s life would make a terrific money.” Even if you don’t know anything about them as a person, just their nameRead Full Review

Wes Anderson has never made a film I have disliked. He’s been working since 1996’s Bottle Rocket, and has made six films overall. Each film has been touched with the same flavor of detachment, smugness, andRead Full Review

There are some films that are so bleak that they’ll make your head spin. They pile on the most harrowing aspects of life, and create a world so horrible that it barely seems like reality.Read Full Review

Within the film An Education, there is a performance of spectacular grace and beauty. That performance comes from Carey Mulligan in her first starring role. It’s the kind of performance that will make her a movieRead Full Review

What do you think when you hear about a film with a title like The Men Who Stare At Goats? Certain things can be assumed: it will be well humored (probably silly), it will possess anRead Full Review

If we are to believe that the Coen Brothers are the seminal filmmakers of their generation, it is mostly because of a style that they pioneered. A style that has stayed consistent throughout their careersRead Full Review

I don’t like flying in planes. The anxiety of being up in the air so high plagues me weeks before any planned flight. I actually lose sleep in anticipation of flying, so I try toRead Full Review

There are a handful of people in history that you can just name and think “I’d like to see a movie about this person”. Amelia Earhart is one of those people. Unfortunately, Amelia seems to be aRead Full Review

I’ll admit that I cannot be fair when reviewing this film. As a child, I was read the original story in beds, libraries, and classrooms. It was a seminal story of my childhood, and manyRead Full Review

Michael Moore is mad as fuck, and he’s not going to take it anymore. He’s taken his bazookas and ICBMs, and he’s pointing them square into the face of the American economy–or more specifically, ourRead Full Review

John Keats died in 1821, when he was only slightly older than twenty-five years old. He left behind a rather vast and exceptional collection of poems, which established him as one of the greatest ofRead Full Review

Within the theater where I screened the new film Whip It, the seats were filled with numerous women and small girls decked in roller derby gear: fishnet stockings, neon-colored shirts, short shorts, etc. My knowledge ofRead Full Review

There’s something fascinating lingering under the surface of Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, The Informant!. Based on the true story of ADM Vice President Mark Whitacre and his role in the uncovering of the ADM price-fixing scandal,Read Full Review

As evidenced by the title of Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Inglourious Basterds, not even the strict confinements of grammar and spelling can contain the eccentric filmmaker. Harbored lately, Basterds is Tarantino’s first full film since 2004’s Kill Bill Vol.Read Full Review

It’s hard to have a plot as preposterous as The Time Traveler’s Wife and continue to be sincere. Films have tried and failed to make romantic tear-jerkers involving robots, space, and whatnot, but the overall craziness makesRead Full Review

I will admit that I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to Japanese Anime films. Mamoru Oshii’s ultra-violent Ghost In The Shell always seemed slow and uninteresting, and even though there is a strong American followingRead Full Review

Within Marc Webb’s film, 500 Days of Summer, I experienced a mixture of emotions–but none of them were negative. Traveling through the highs and lows of two twenty-somethings treading through what may or may not beRead Full Review

There’s a rather interesting dynamic within Funny People, Judd Apatow’s latest comedy. The film delivers on its promise, and it is choc-filled with many, many funny people whether they’re playing themselves or not. But the film’sRead Full Review

War is a drug. So says a quote which scrolls before Kathryn Bigelow’s latest film, The Hurt Locker. For just over two hours, the film will go on to explain that statement in grave, sometimes dangerousRead Full Review

Can I correctly comment on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince without ever reading any of the books and ignoring all except one of the films (Sorcerer’s Stone)? Probably not, but I’m going to anyway. With aRead Full Review

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an R-rated film get away with as much as the film Brüno has just gotten away with. When you consider that this same director-star tandem had earlier collaborated on the equally-abrasive Borat inRead Full Review

Duncan Jones may be the next big name in films, and I’m not just biased because his father is Ziggy Stardust. His first feature, Moon is a film which is nearly impossible to pull off, and evenRead Full Review

Within the span of Woody Allen’s long and prolific career, he has surely recycled some themes about love and life. He has some very devout opinions about the way humanity carries itself and those strongRead Full Review

Public Enemies may be one of the most revolutionary gangster films ever made. Or it may not be. I don’t think the film, or its filmmakers, care either way. Michael Mann, the best stylist behind theRead Full Review