A lot of critics hate Ridley Scott. A lot hate blockbusters. A lot hate religious movies. Some hate a combination of the three. What can I say? In the immortal words of President Thomas Jefferson, “Haters gonna hate.” Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) The Plot: Moses (Christian Bale) has lived his whole life as a…
Production studios are weird, and I gather involve a good deal of politics. Film festivals are also weird, and also heavily political. Things like the Cannes Film Festival are nice for indie filmmakers (the high-profile and non-indie indie filmmakers like the Coens and Wes Anderson) to screen their films and get picked up by major…
Winter is a double whammy in the film industry: blockbusters and prestige films. That’s enough to totally clog up well-meaning amateur film blogs like the one you’re reading right now. It’s also enough to burn out the avid movie goer and plant a dangerous little seed of “Geez, I could use a small movie. What’s…
Once a year there seems to be an important prestige film that totally slips under my radar until mid-to-late November. I think last year it was Philomena, and I never ended up seeing that anyway. I got my act together in a big way this year, however, and managed to see it the same week…
Nightcrawler (2014) The Plot: Petty criminal Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) makes his living stealing manhole covers and chain-link fences, selling them as scrap metal to the most convenient buyer. He craves financial stability, however, and wants to straighten up and fly right. One night, a career path drops into his lap: nightcrawling. What does a…
It’s November. It’s Oscar/Christmas blockbuster season. Let’s just get right to it, shall we? Interstellar (2014) The Plot: Environmental apocalypses: the best kind (?). As a terrible blight continues to wipe out crops across the world, scientists (mainly Michael Caine) realize that the earth is done for. That doesn’t necessarily mean that humanity has to…
Octoberween is now over and Oscar season is just around the corner, and will hopefully supply this reviewer with articles for the next three months. This week I want to take a moment to bridge the gap between horror and SERIOUS DRAMA with a movie that has a little of both but not very much…
