What’s ostensibly a Western driven by the remedying of an injustice, Unforgiven is really an exploration into how perceived identity defines value, whether it centers on William Munny (Clint Eastwood), a “known thief and murderer, a man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition,” who was cured of “drinking and wickedness” by his deceased wife, or whether the […]
With releases like There Will be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton, Charlie Wilson’s War, Atonement, Eastern Promises and Juno, 2007 is one of the most memorable years for movies in the last few decades, and the previous list is just the main Academy Award nominees. It also doesn’t hurt that 2007 gave us 28 […]
A writer for a movie site should probably relish watching the Academy Award nominations and prepare for the witty banter that comes from surprise winners and lovable losers who just can’t seem to take the ten-pound, gilded man home; however, for the last few years, disillusion has outweighed the entertainment value of the awards, and awards seem […]
Amy Chua, Yale law professor and author of the derided yet oft-purchased best-seller Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in which she criticizes the Western style of parenting, writes in an excerpt of her novel for The Wall Street Journal, “I’ve noticed that Western parents are extremely anxious about their children’s self-esteem. They worry about how their […]
What begins as the exploration of an urban legend evolves into a glimpse at how society needs to manufacture visible boogey men to alleviate internal guilt and disassociate from that which is labeled “evil,” despite our tendencies to walk a thin line between what makes us comfortable and what makes us squirm. Cropsey, the impetus of the […]
“We’re not ready for this … This is the middle of nowhere … This is a shithole … I felt like we were fish in a barrel … What are we doing?” is the chorus that introduces us to the Korengal Valley, the deadliest area in Afghanistan in 2007 and also noted as the most violent place […]
In what might be the most beautifully shot Best Picture nominee of 2010, 127 Hours establishes Danny Boyle as a king of symbology from the opening triptych sequence that gives offers examples of technology, religion, neon-laden businesses, devices of our consumption and a lone Aron Ralston (James Franco) driving a car. Solidly edited, the images pit Ralston’s sole […]
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, there were dozens of different groups undertaking their individually grand projects of mass transformation of this country. Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Fred Hampton of The Black Panthers mounted their respective battles for Civil Rights while our country waged war on a small nation in Southeast Asia under the guise […]
In 1994’s Hoop Dreams, we followed Arthur Agee and William Gates as they struggled to break free of their impoverished communities and broken pasts, seeking the opportunity to become professional basketball players. In the same spirit, Pressure Cooker follows three culinary art students at Frankford High School, an institution replete with metal detectors, thumbprint scanners, and students […]
In Frozen, writer and director Adam Green pits three characters against nature, setting up a frightening, suspenseful tale that examines survival instinct in the face of imminent death. Unfortunately, it’s only a setup as the script can’t carry the film much farther than the initial idea, and the characters seem to exist only to move the plot, not […]