In the current comic-book movie flood that began in 2000, it’s always seemed to me that 2005 ought to be regarded as the highest water-mark, producing three of the smartest, most stylistically compelling and absolutely the darkest films of the genre: in April of that year, we were treated to Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s […]
Nine years ago, in the cinematic annus mirabilis of 1999, two of the movies that did the most to get the hearts and minds of the American male adolescent pumping were Fight Club and The Matrix, the first a fable about the restoration of Western masculinity, the second a thing, with the bullet-time (and there […]
The Promotion is a nasty-hearted little film, and in absolutely the worst way for a film to be nasty: it is absolutely convinced of its own warm spirit and generosity towards its characters. Which qualities it possesses, I guess, once you can get past the fact that the protagonist is a spiteful, lying asshole and […]
When I was choosing the poster to add to this review, I had a choice to make: “Which better sums up the movie,” I asked myself, “the one where Vince Vaughn looks like a smug dick, or the one where he is acting oppressively & unamusingly zany?” I picked, well, it’s right over there. The […]
The newest vehicle for the “comic” “talents” of “actor” Will Ferrell is fitfully amusing, much smarter in concept than execution, emotionally thin, and blessed by performances that make the characters seem much fuller than they actually are. It is, in other words, the finest picture of his career. It’s not Ferrell’s career that I found […]
Credit where credit is due, The Lake House certainly can’t be faulted for lack of narrative ambition. What it can and should be faulted for is being utterly fucking insane. There’s just no other way to put it. The plot…but why do I even bring up the plot? I am not entirely certain that I […]
“I kind of liked The Break-Up, but it’s because I’m a chick,” a female friend recently informed me. I don’t see how that could possibly help. A film whose plot is right there in the title, The Break-Up is one of the most pointless films I’ve seen in a long time. Gary (Vince Vaughn) and […]