The Ultimate Life (Landon, Jr., 2013)
When we stop asking our films to save the lost while entertaining the justified and just let them do one or the other, I expect we'll all be a lot happier.
When we stop asking our films to save the lost while entertaining the justified and just let them do one or the other, I expect we'll all be a lot happier.
Making a horror movie must be a little like writing a sonnet. The form is so familiar that even non-fans have been exposed to a lot of them. The (relative) simplicity of the form in conjunction with that exposure makes it attractive to creators: I can do that! It also makes it a challenge for creators and consumers alike: We've seen that!
I did not intentionally watch Iceberg Slim on the week in which a man of one color would be found not guilty of murdering a teenager of another color, sparking another of the seemingly endless waves of grating, chattering babble about race in this country. I'm glad I did, though, because it was a reminder (if I needed one), that nothing is as subjective in this world as what people of different backgrounds consider "normal."
I haven't been this depressed after a movie since An Inconvenient Truth.
An oddly engaging but ultimately unsatisfying endeavor, Some Girl(s) is best described as a cross between Nick Hornby's High Fidelity and David Mamet's Oleanna.
One of the more unfortunate side-effects of the polarization and politicization of American discourse is that we've seriously devalued the word "persecution."
Kids see, hear, and understand as much as we fear and more than we let ourselves admit.
The strange thing, the downright bizarre thing, about this quest is that Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures have wagered a lot of money on the proposition (if the film itself is any indication) that the audience won't care in the least whether superhero movies have stupid, artsy contrivances like themes
"Is it just me, or is Michael Bay giving a deliberate middle finger to the Coen Brothers?"
Oblivion may be one of those films that is easier to mock than to dislike. It is certainly easier to criticize than to not enjoy.