8 years ago
All posts by Andy Crump
Remember the Fallen, and Forget “After”
How often does a film come along that truly, deeply pisses you off? More than that: how often does a film come along that completely offends your sensibilities and repulses you to your very core? Perhaps no more frequently than masterpieces, movies that remind...
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“Guardians of the Galaxy” Gunns For Greatness
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a Marvel movie is just a Marvel movie. But when a Marvel movie has former Troma bad boy James Gunn stationed at the helm, orchestrating a grand space opera peppered with off-radar characters with no mainstream c...
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In “Child of God”, No Country For James Franco
Taking Child of God seriously is as demanding a task as simply sitting through it. Consider the source: James Franco, career class clown and current aspiring auteur, at least according to his expanding tally of directorial ventures (most recently, As I Lay Dyi...
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In “Lucy,” Scarlett Johansson Accesses 100% Of Her Awesomeness
And now for something completely different: Luc Besson presents Cosmos. Wet blankets across the Internet will invariably find a reason to fault Lucy, Besson's latest, for leaning on urban legends and pseudo-science as the make-up of its basic conceit. If Neil ...
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“Among Ravens” Is For The Birds
Early on in Among Ravens, directors Russell Friedenberg and Randy Redroad stage a dinner gathering between the film's leads, a circle of friends meeting up to celebrate Independence Day near San Francisco. Before too much time passes into their revelry, they'r...
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“And So It Goes” Nowhere Of Interest
Once upon a time, Rob Reiner made good movies. Scratch that: he made great movies. Thirty years ago, he made This Is Spinal Tap in his very first outing as a director. Two years after that, he made Stand By Me. A year after that, he made The Princess Bride. An...
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Control The Engine, Control The World: Obsession In “Snowpiercer”
Every filmmaker has their obsessions. Martin Scorsese has examined the ins and outs of Catholic guilt and redemption through a gangland lens since the start of his career. Alfred Hitchcock nursed a predilection for mistaken identity and the kinky duality of tr...
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“Life Itself”: Portrait Of A Film Critic
"He's a nice guy. But he's not that nice." This thought is presented to us early on in Life Itself, Steve James' loving, peering documentary about the life, times, and passing of Roger Ebert. Over the course of 2 hours, James takes it upon himself to explore t...
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“Earth to Echo” Crash Lands Your Childhood
See if this log line sounds familiar to you: a group of winsome young people discover an adorable alien entity, stranded on Earth and sought after by shady government spooks, and work together to help get the little critter home. Everyone learns a lesson. Hear...
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