Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) was undeniably one of the most brilliant and innovative motion picture directors of all time. His meticulously crafted works have influenced innumerable filmmakers all over the world, from Steven Spielberg to Gaspar Noe. Obviously, entire books have been written about Kubrick’s oeuvre, so let us focus here on the peak of his […]
Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood: One Possible Interpretation
November 25, 2020 by
In all that has already been written and said about Quentin Tarantino’s latest (and supposedly penultimate) movie, one thing that comes up again and again is the surprisingly disrespectful way in which the character of Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) is portrayed. His one really crucial scene sees him being arrogant toward stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad […]
The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
November 19, 2020 by
Film Title
The Dead Don't DieSynopsis
Another lame zombie movie. Watch The Train To Busan instead
Director
Jim JarmuschCast
Steve Buscemi
Bill Murray
Adam Driver
Cloe Sevigny
Tom Waits
Danny Glover
“Humor is subjective” is a phrase I forced myself to remember several times throughout legendary independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch’s latest, The Dead Don’t Die, as several other people in the audience with me reacted audibly and approvingly to jokes I found relentlessly unfunny and lame. Here are some of the bits that elicited laughter… Farmer […]
Un Chien Andalou
November 18, 2020 by
Film Title
Un Chien AndalouSynopsis
A Short Film
Director
Luis BunuelCast
Simon Mareuil
Pierre Batcheff
This 1929 collaboration between Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali is one of the strangest and most enigmatic films ever produced, containing all the layers of dream logic and elusive profundity of a David Lynch movie in under twenty minutes. The two notorious surrealists apparently couldn’t have been happier that their work confounded so many viewers […]
Hunger (2008)
November 17, 2020 by
Film Title
HungerSynopsis
Inmates in a Northern Ireland prison are led in a hunger strike
Director
Steve McQueenCast
Stuart Graham
Laine Megaw
Brian Milligan
Michael Fassbender
Liam McMahon
Helen Madden
I saw this in April of 2009 and the rest of the year failed to produce a more perfect film. Director Steve McQueen (not the one I was thinking of, as it turned out) crafts a completely compelling take on the famed hunger strike endured by Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) and other political prisoners associated […]
Hubie Halloween
October 28, 2020 by
Film Title
Hubie HalloweenSynopsis
Hubie tries to save Halloween as Adam Sandler stinks up the screen again
Cast
Adam Sandler
Kevin James
Julie Bowen
Ray Liotta
Steve Buscemi
Rob Schneider
Shaquille O'Neal
If you are familiar with Adam Sandler movies, this is exactly what you have come to expect. Whether that means you will enjoy it, or how much that is even possible for you, may vary. Less familiarity might actually equate to greater enjoyment, as you will be less annoyed and distracted by the references and […]
Fargo
October 11, 2020 by
Film Title
FargoSynopsis
A desperate and inept crime has horrible consequences in Fargo, North Dakota
Director
Joel & Ethan CoenCast
Steve Buscemi
Francis McDormand
William H. Macey
Peter Stormare
Kristin Rudrud
Harve Presnell
John Carol Lynch
THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it “occurred.” With these words Joel and Ethan Coen open their unassailable masterpiece (one […]
Silver Bullet (1985)
July 16, 2020 by
Film Title
Silver BulletSynopsis
Gary Busey is Uncle Red…No more needs to be said
Director
Daniel AttiasCast
Gary Busey
Everett McGill
Corey Haim
Megan Follows
Robin Groves
Leon Russom
Terry O'Quinn
Joe Wright
At the risk of gaining a reputation as some sort of lunatic who insists on reading way too much into the subtext of popular 80s movies, the 1985 werewolf movie Silver Bullet is about priests molesting children. The “priest” in question here is actually a Reverend, which indicates he is not in fact a Catholic […]
Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
July 7, 2020 by
Film Title
Earth Girls Are EasySynopsis
Aliens and Furries in SoCal
Director
Julien TempleCast
Jeff Goldblum
Geena Davis
Jim Carrey
Damon Wayans
Julie Brown
Charles Rocket
Michael McKean
A few years after enacting a disgustingly doomed romance in The Fly, real-life husband-and-wife Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis went on to play a similarly weird but much less doomed couple in Julien Temple’s 1988 cult classic Earth Girls Are Easy. Unlike The Fly, which was dark and deep enough to warrant speculation about its […]
The Fly (1986)
July 3, 2020 by
Film Title
The Fly (1986)Synopsis
The AIDS just might be behind cocaine door #3
Director
David CronenbergCast
Jell Goldblumb
Geena Davis
John Getz
David Cronenberg
Leslie Carlson
David Cronenberg’s remake of the (also very good) 50s giant bug movie The Fly added a lot of nuance and subtlety to the themes of the original. “Subtlety” might seem like a strange word to describe a movie in which a gradually decomposing man vomits on his food before eating it, but when it is […]
