In the age of movie reboots such as Poltergeist, Jurassic World, and Robocop, Terminator Genisys has relaunched the Terminator series. Terminator, directed by James Cameron and released in 1984, was an instant hit. Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a professional bodybuilder to a cyborg assassin who famously said, “I’ll be back.” The last two chapters in…
Jason Reitman, of Thank You for Smoking and Juno, brings us his latest comment on modern society: Men, Women, and Children. This film follows the lives of several teenagers and their parents, befitting the title. It focuses on the constraints of our technological world, loss of human connection, with an overarching theme of insignificance. The…
Dan Gilroy makes his directorial debut with Nightcrawler, which he also penned, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. A gripping psychological thriller, Nightcrawler follows Louis Bloom (Gyllenhall), a persistent young man eager to break into the world of L.A. crime journalism. Having first screened on the Toronto International Film Festival, Nightcrawler claims a Halloween release date, a fitting…
Jennifer Kent wrote and directed the Australian horror film, The Babadook. Based on the short film, also by Kent, The Babadook rose to critical acclaim after being premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. This is Kent’s debut feature film, drawing inspiration from early horror, fairy tales, and magic. Kent puts a hand-crafted twist on a…
Jean-Marc Vallee directs the biographical film written by Nick Hornby, Wild. This film is based on the memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, written by Cheryl Strayed. Vallee’s Dallas Buyers Club last year elicited two Oscar-winning performances, setting a high standard for Reese Witherspoon in the lead role and Laura…
Tim Burton has given us gothic classics that will last us throughout our lives. From the spook-inducing and gorgeously crafted Nightmare Before Christmas, to the satire of suburbia and tale of acceptance of Edward Scissorhands, he's produced and influenced a multitude of works that started strong. However, in recent years it has become more a…
Craig Johnson takes the directorial reigns of his second film with the dark family dramedy, The Skeleton Twins. Having debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, this film offers a gorgeous commentary on the strength of blood and revival of hope. Former SNL costars, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig,…
Annabelle is the prequel to 2013’s The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, which received generally favorable reviews. James Wan handed the directorial baton over to his cinematographer, John R. Leonetti, whose previous experience includes Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and The Butterfly Effect 2; safe to say that this may not have been a wise choice. The…
I first read Lois Lowry’s The Giver in eighth grade, at which time the YA classic was already ten years old. I have not read it since, and I purposely did not re-read it in advance of watching Philip Noyce’s film adaptation for this review. That said, the book had on me, like it did…
I make it a general rule to try and stay away from any hype/reviews/general recommendations about what I’ll be reviewing. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was one of those films where I just couldn’t escape that stuff. Sitting through the coming attractions, I forced myself to push out all of the uber-positive feedback about the…
