Unforgiven – A Western’s Take on Identity and Value
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…
Reviews
Zodiac – To Catch a Serial Killer, Please Complete Form ZC87 in Triplicate, Filing the White, Pink and Yellow Copies with their Respective Offices
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…
Exit Through the Gift Shop – Rooting for Chaos
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…
Freeway – What if Red Riding Hood Had a “Tiger Mother”?
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…
Cropsey – Urban Legends and Mirrors for Our Motives
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…
Restrepo – A Brother’s Life and an “Other’s” Life
“We’re not ready for this … This is the middle of nowhere … This is a shithole … I felt like we were fish in…
127 Hours – If Your Life Replays Itself Before Your Eyes
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…
The Weather Underground – “You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know” Revolution Is Imminent
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…
Pressure Cooker — If You Can’t Stand the Heat …
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…
Frozen – If There Were Three People I Would Watch Die…
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…