It’s a familiar storyline by now: The Internet has put entertainment, as we know it, at a crossroads. Now that people can get music, books, and movies when they want it, how they want it, and for whatever price (or none at all) they wish to pay, the big money firms/studios/labels that previously were gatekeepers … Continue reading
Poor Paul Reubens. Every time someone writes anything about the guy, it always comes back to getting caught jerking off in a movie theater sixteen years ago. If you had caught some of his ejaculate from the porno theater and artificially impregnated a woman with it, the ensuing child would be just about old enough … Continue reading
One of the better monster movies of my lifetime, the Korean film The Host is going to be getting a sequel. Sadly, the movie won’t feature director Bong Joon-ho. The Host came and sadly went in the United States a couple of months back, but those who did get to see it know that a … Continue reading
It’s time for another thrilling edition of Late to the Party, a column title which I have come to realize is not as original as I first thought. There’s some sort of meta-recursive lateness going on behind-the-scenes, here, and it makes my inner ears kinda hurt. Anyway, this here is the introduction to my bi-weekly … Continue reading
I was underwhelmed the very first time I saw Sin City. Being unfamiliar with the source material, I had no particular admiration for the seemingly literal presentation of it that Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller provided. I’ve since come to enjoy it to some extent due to round-the-clock showings on Starz, where the small-scale, stage-y … Continue reading
News of a new Ben Stiller comedy these days is about as surprising as your next breath. The guy simply will not stop, and because of the sheer volume of his work, he’s more than able to weather a dud or two. You don’t care for a film of his? Or three? Or the last … Continue reading
I honestly forgot this movie existed. Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, the man who’d rather you consider him the screenwriter of the Bourne movies instead of the brains behind The Cutting Edge, Michael Clayton seems like it should be a year-end prestige release. So what’s it doing opening in late September? How about killing … Continue reading
I have generally not been a fan of the American Film Institute’s 100 Years 100 Movies series because they a) honor boring mainstream triumphs, b) act as if Samuel Fuller never existed and c) seem more interested in selling DVDs than sparking an interest in genuinely great movies. Point blank: I think their lists are … Continue reading
Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York, New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino and, now, The Winter of Frankie Machine brings the grand total of Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro director/actor collaborations to nine. That strange popping sensation you just felt was the universe clicking back into place. Why has it … Continue reading
As Devin mentioned yesterday in Eli Roth Is The One Getting Tortured Now, this weekend saw widespread piracy of Michael Moore’s Sicko. Not only did the film hit Bit Torrent trackers (that happened last week, actually) — one or more people broke the film up into chunks and placed it on YouTube, and a copy … Continue reading