If you’ve ever wanted to watch a direct-to-video post-apocalyptic
western starring former MMA champion Gina Carano directed by the guy who helmed
Sliding Doors, today is your day. Take a gander at the
trailer for Scorched Earth, which delivers just what I
promised.
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Friday, December 29, 2017
Thursday, December 28, 2017
The Top 15 Movies Of 2017
Every year, I debate whether or not to make a year-end
best-of list. I hate ranking movies (or giving them grades for that matter),
and where a movie falls, or even what’s included, varies day-by-day, even
hour-by-hour depending on my mood and what I remember.
'Mom And Dad' Trailer: Nicolas Cage Sings The Hokey Pokey And Smashes A Pool Table With A Sledgehammer
Somehow, and I’m not sure how this happened, I never knew
that what my life really lacked was Nicolas Cage, screaming “The Hokey Pokey,”
while smashing a pool table with a sledgehammer. I know, I know, that should
have been obvious from the word go, but it took this Mom and
Dad trailer to make me see the light. But now I have, and it is
glorious.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
'In The Fade' (2017) Movie Review
I’m here all day for Diane Kruger fighting Nazis. The only
problem with Faith Akin’s In the Fade is that, instead of
focusing on that part of the story, it turns into a middling Law &
Order episode.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
'Molly's Game' (2017) Movie Review
As a writer, Aaron Sorkin has an ability to make me care
about topics I don’t usually give two shits about. I’m not particularly
interested in the d-bags who created Facebook, but The Social
Network makes that story as compelling as it’s going to get. The same
goes for Steve Jobs (Steve Jobs), Sabermetrics (Moneyball),
and Tom Cruise as a lawyer (A Few Good Men). His directorial
debut, Molly’s Game, for which he also wrote the script,
follows a familiar pattern.
'Den Of Thieves' Trailer Is The Most Macho Thing You'll See All Day
I should know better by now, I really should, but I can’t
help but be irrationally excited for Den of Thieves. I know,
I know, it’s a mid-January action movie that looks dumb as shit and macho
beyond belief, but it also looks 100% my jam. Watching this new trailer, I can’t
help myself, I giggled and clapped the entire time.
Friday, December 22, 2017
'Love And Saucers' (2017) Movie Review
Earnest is the best way to describe David Huggins. He’s an
affable elder gentleman who works part time in a Hoboken deli, spends his spare
time painting, and, oh yeah, lost his virginity to an extraterrestrial. Documentaries
are often only as interesting as their subjects, and Brad Abrahams’
Love and Saucers: The Far Out World of David Huggins
certainly has an eccentric focus.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
'Downsizing' (2017) Movie Review
It’s easy to describe most of Alexander Payne’s filmography
as “white dudes learn an important lesson: the movie.” And to that end, his
latest, Downsizing, feels right at home among titles like
Election and Nebraska. Where it stands
out is that it finds the director splashing around in the science fiction pool for
the first time. The film bears an intriguing satiric premise, tips its hat to
all manner of interesting thematic concerns related to that conceit, and begins
with promise, only to shit the bed in complete, spectacular, baffling fashion.
The 2017 Seattle Film Critics Society Award Winners
It’s award season, mother fuckers! I’m fortunate enough to
be part of the inaugural class of the Seattle Film Critics Society (they shot
down my name suggestion: Seattle Movie Nerd Party Club). We’ve voted on and handed
out awards a few times under this moniker, but before now it’s been a loose
collection of like-minded film weirdos, not an actual group with like officers,
by-laws, and things like that. I wrote about the nominees the other day, but now
the final votes have been tallied and the winners are here. Drumroll please…
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
'Sicario 2: Soldado' Trailer Starts A War With Everyone
Do we really need a sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 cartel
thriller Sicario? Especially one without the lead character
or director from that film? Probably not. But that’s not going to stop
Sicario 2: Soldado from happening, and thanks to this first
trailer, I’m here for it’s DTV vibe and promise of excessive violence.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
The 2017 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards Nominations
As 2017 wraps up (high fives to everyone for making it
through this clusterfuck of a year!) it’s that time where groups and guilds and
collections of people who watch a lot of movies get together to vote for the
best of the year. I’m fortunate enough to be a part of a couple of these groups
(because my opinion is the best one, obviously), including the newly minted
Seattle Film Critics Society.
'The Shape Of Water' (2017) Movie Review
Guillermo del Toro’s latest, The Shape of Water, reminds me of so many of the director’s other films. It
contains lush, gorgeous, fantastic elements that astound, tease the
imagination, and take your breath away. But it also contains flat, bland,
lame-ass choices and needless grandstanding that kills momentum and waters down
the impact of what’s otherwise a lovely love letter to classic movies and
sweeping cinematic romance.
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
This 'Annihilation' Trailer Leans Heavy On The Sci-Fi Action
According to one of the producers, we might not be smart
enough to understand it (we’re just dumb old movie fans after all), but I’m still
rather jazzed about Alex Garland’s Annihilation. The
adaptation of the first book in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern
Reach trilogy just dropped a new trailer. Check it out below.
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
'The Post' (2017) Movie Review
Steven Spielberg’s The Post doesn’t
surprise anyone. One, it tells a famous, well-known story; two, it’s obvious
from moment one where it’s heading; and three, it’s not trying to pull a
Houdini and execute any startling narrative gymnastics. It also won’t surprise
anyone that The Post is excellent, occasionally thrilling,
and watching Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Spielberg together is like watching a
goddamn symphony.