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.
-
-
The Bourne Identity (Liman, 2002)
One of the more interesting moments in The Bourne Identity comes about a quarter of the way through the film. Franka Potente plays Marie Kreutz, a woman who has agreed to drive a stranger to Paris in exchange for $10,000
-
Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976)
Given that admission, there's no real upside to admitting that Taxi Driver doesn't float my boat.
-
You’re Next (Wingard, 2013)
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!
-
The Great Gatsby (Luhrmann, 2013)
About thirty-five to forty minutes into The Great Gatsby, I started wondering if I was going crazy, or if the film did have more cuts than usual.
-
Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (Hinojosa, 2012)
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."
-
Salò (Pasolini, 1975)
I can't say I wasn't warned.
-
Terms and Conditions May Apply (Hoback, 2013)
I haven't been this depressed after a movie since An Inconvenient Truth.
-
CFP–Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volume III
The editor of Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema Volume I (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008) and Volume II (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2011) seeks proposals for previously unpublished essays to appear in a third volume of this series.
-
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Verbinski, 2003) — 10 Years Later
I'll probably never win over the skeptics, and that's okay, but ten years later, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is still my favorite film from 2003.