Movie Reviews

We’re a hotheaded group of individuals. We crave a pull quote like anyone else, but it’s not about that. It’s only about you the reader. We love you. We want to take you home and cuddle with you. The following reviews are the opinions of the editors of CHUD.com and are by most accounts bang on.

REVIEW: 16 BLOCKS

Calling 16 Blocks a bad film is selling it short. It’s often truly awful, a mess of confused geography (both real world and action), an improbably slothful pace, a lead actor showing about the same amount of effort I see in your average McDonalds lifer, and a subtext so grotesquely racist I couldn’t believe it. … Continue reading

REVIEW: STREET FIGHT

I’m an unabashed fan of 19th century New York City, and part of what I love about that time period is the unabashed corruption of the “machine” system of politics used by people like the infamous Boss Tweed. The levels of fraud, intimidation and actual violence used to guarantee continued incumbency for preferred candidates makes … Continue reading

REVIEW: RUNNING SCARED

My experience with Running Scared went something like this: first came skepticism. The film opens with a heavily stylized six minute gun battle, and while I thought there were some cool shots and excellent kills, it seemed pretty standard. Next came disbelief. I couldn’t believe that the things I was seeing on screen were happening … Continue reading

REVIEW: WINTER PASSING

Every now and again you see a movie whose problems can all be summed up in one moment. In the case of Winter Passing, the directing debut of playwright Adam Rapp, it’s a moment very early on when Zooey Deschanel’s character, Reese, takes her tiny kitten, who has been diagnosed with feline leukemia, to the … Continue reading

REVIEW: NIGHT WATCH

The Eternal Battle Between the Forces of Light and Dark. The Chosen One. The Coming End of the World. These are the basic tropes that populate about 99% of fantasy novels, and for some reason no one seems willing to move beyond them. So the problem becomes how do you make this stuff fresher, and … Continue reading

REVIEW: EIGHT BELOW

I made it pretty far into Eight Below without crying, but in the end it’s a losing battle. The theater was filled with the telltale sniffles of weeping moviegoers no more than halfway through this surprisingly wonderful story of survival, and while each tear was more than a little from each eye, Eight Below mostly … Continue reading

REVIEW: NEIL YOUNG – HEART OF GOLD

Neil Young thought he was going to die, so he recorded an album. It’s what you do when you’re an artist, try to get those last thoughts out. The album he recorded was called Prairie Wind, and it’s one of his quiet records (Neil Young is notable for the manic-depressive aspect of his music, in … Continue reading

REVIEW: TAMARA

High school is one of the most fertile topics for pop culture. It seems like few people make it through unscathed, so films, books and TV shows set in high school can resonate with all age groups. One of the great things that Joss Whedon did with Buffy the Vampire Slayer was to make something … Continue reading

REVIEW: PINK PANTHER, THE

It’s quite possible that The Pink Panther has one of the most brilliant advertising campaigns of all time – the studio makes the film look like complete and utter shit so that when it’s finally released and the reviews come in, the consensus is “I certainly thought that would be worse.” Which isn’t to say … Continue reading

REVIEW: FIREWALL

If you’re looking for a film to make you believe in Harrison Ford once again, move along. Firewall isn’t it. If this heist/techno-thriller isn’t quite as rote and pedestrian as his last couple flicks, it’s just as formulaic as you’d expect polished moneymaking product to be. There are enough tense moments to keep you awake, … Continue reading