From the moment a soothsayer warns Julius Caeser to “Beware the Ides of March,” the marriage of politics and assassination were forever canonized in eternal lines. And, in what might exemplify the upcoming season of Oscarbation, The Ides of March is star-studded, characteristically well-acted and brims with tension that is slightly reminiscent of scenes from 1998’s Bulworth. At […]
Marketing 50/50 as a film from “the guys who brought you Superbad” is highly misleading. While there’s truth to this declaration, 50/50 is not a comedy – at least, not like Superbad. The funny moments are mordant and uncomfortable – as they should be. They don’t so much evoke laughs of elation and happiness, but more laughs-of-last […]
As the 2011 baseball season approaches its 162nd game, most eyes will be on the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays. The former has blown the nine game lead they held in the Wild Card race on September 9th when they were a half-game back of the New York Yankees and on pace to win […]
As the trailer for the film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diary makes its way around the internet and into the laps of Gonzo-followers, the premier looms and conjures previous imaginings of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson on the silver screen. Thompson – or more appropriately, his alter-ego Raoul Duke – has been portrayed in two films […]
A number of films employ an infidelity motif to frame, expand, or elaborate on a plot. Often, the third act of a film hinges on the act and steers the audience toward an interpretation of one character or another. Take a recent movie like the The Kids Are Alright, where infidelity attempts to vilify two characters – […]
As the latest addition to the “white altruist” genre of cinema, The Help is most effective in its deviation from how it is portrayed through its trailer. This is not to say that the film is a failure or falls short of any expectations. Rather, it exceeds them. However, previews depict it as another incarnation of a film […]
If you’re looking for a heartwarming romp that empowers the never-ceasing power of love, perhaps The Sea Inside would not be the best bet. However, if you’re looking for a haunting discourse on euthanasia that chooses not to vilify an advocate or opposition, preferring to examine the various rationale and contradictions inherent in each, then this is […]
Despite its title, The Boxer might be the antithetical pugilist-movie. There is a boxer, Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis), and he does box, a little. At the same time, Flynn’s boxing is less a profession, and more a metaphor for the waning but never dying conflict between Irish Catholics and Protestants. And, it feels as if this […]
I can’t help but think that Inside Job won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary on the basis that director Charles Ferguson should have won the Oscar three years prior for his debut No End in Sight, a documentary that takes an in depth look at the Bush Administration’s conduct prior to and during the Iraq […]
I Love You, Phillip Morris, exemplifies Jim Carrey’s decade-long transition from comedic goofball to charming leading man. In a way, Carrey has been emulating Tom Hanks, who was best known as a comedic actor before melding comedy sincerity in 1988’s Big. From then on, most comedic roles undertaken by Hanks could better be described as dramedies: […]