9 years ago
Reviews (10 posts found)
“A Haunted House 2”: Better Than The Original, Worse Than Everything Else
"This bitch heavy as hell, cuz!"
For Marlon Wayans' first installment in the A Haunted House franchise, I detailed fifty examples of "humor" contained within the parody. As the inevitable sequel began with the above quote, it was clear that A Haunted House ...
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“Bears” Is As Cute As It Is Unnecessary
The last time I visited Katmai National Park via documentary film, it was through Grizzly Man. This Alaskan nature preserve is where bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell met his end at the teeth and claws of one of his beloved animals. This is a very dark thought...
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“Transcendence” Needs A System Upgrade
The greatest frustration of Transcendence is that, as its narrative slowly tailspins out of control, we can observe a fleeting glimpse or two of the film it could have been amidst its clunkier overtures. Among the myriad of 2014 releases unleashed upon viewing...
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“Oculus”: Turns Out It Was Just A Reflector
Not being able to tell what's real and isn't real in movies, let alone those of the horror genre, has become such an overused, pretentious cliche when it comes to faux-profound filmmakers. So much so that when a film like Oculus comes along and does it so damn...
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“Only Lovers Left Alive”
The main character in Only Lovers Left Alive is literally a romantic. Adam (Tom Hiddleston) is a centuries-old vampire, and according to his lover Eve (Tilda Swinton,) his personality was shaped by Romantic-era “assholes” like Shelley and Byron. Now he resides...
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“Cuban Fury” Needs More Than Just Corazón
One, two, three. Five, six, seven. That Latin rhythm plays almost nonstop throughout the movie Cuban Fury. You can trace the history of salsa through its soundtrack, from Benny More to Tito Puente to Willie Colon to Mark Anthony. Yet, even with a “best of” pla...
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“Draft Day” Talks Football And Not Much Else
Kevin Costner has been on a real tear of late; between last year's Man of Steel, and the early 2014 one-two punch of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and 3 Days to Kill, he's been popping up everywhere, and with increasing frequency. Draft Day, then, feels like an in...
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“Joe” Lets David Gordon Green Out Of His Cage
The rural American South is quickly becoming the setting of choice for filmmakers looking to tell gritty, authentic stories. Last year, there was Jeff Nichols’ Mud, set in a poor Arkansas river town, and this year, HBO’s True Detective set its Southern Gothic ...
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Kristen Wiig’s Mannered Dramatic Performance Torpedoes “Hateship Loveship”
There are two films at work in Hateship Loveship. One is an affecting gander into a twilight-years romance, while the other is a slog starring Kristen Wiig in a questionable dramatic role. Take a guess which one gets the bulk of the running time.
Adapted fr...
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“Nymphomaniac Vol. II” Gives Us The Whole Story And Much More
The problem with the release of Nymphomaniac isn't that it was split into two volumes – it’s that those volumes were released on different days. The idea of splitting a film into multiple volumes, in of itself, is actually an extremely exciting one. Can you im...
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