Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Of all the troubling things about the Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar! – and there are plenty to choose from – the most problematic is that it’s barely a movie at all, but rather a serious of loosely stitched together sketches of wildly varying quality. Known for some of the most creative and… Continue reading

Inherent Vice (2014)

Inherent Vice (2014)

Seedy, drug-fueled, and absent any type of sense we’re used to in film, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice is a film destined to divide any audience that watches it. Its core story is fairly straightforward, but twists and turns abound that don’t make a great deal of sense. Anderson seems to… Continue reading

Labor Day (2013)

Labor Day (2013)

If you like bizarre, confusing tonal shifts wrapped around a sloppy, never-believable-for-a-minute story, look no further than Labor Day. A Lifetime movie with good actors, the film represents the first true misstep of writer/director Jason Reitman’s (Juno) career. This is one strange film, with melodrama that doesn’t dig deep, uncomfortable,… Continue reading

Gangster Squad (2013)

Gangster Squad (2013)

Gangster Squad is an absolutely bananas shoot ’em up that seems plenty content being just that. The story, wearing the “based on true events” tag with a permanent wink, couldn’t be simpler and it’s all basically a coat hook for bloody shootouts, of which there are many. Those expecting a… Continue reading

No Country for Old Men (2007)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

No Country for Old Men is a true original, and that’s virtually impossible to come by these days. Smart, taut, suspenseful, and ever-so-weirdly funny, the film manages to attempt and succeed at nearly every genre under the sun. The Coen brothers have always been uniquely skilled filmmakers, but No Country… Continue reading

American Gangster (2007)

American Gangster (2007)

American Gangster is a formidable piece of work, not to mention director Ridley Scott’s finest effort since 2001’s Black Hawk Down. It personifies the genre that many feared extinct in this era of CGI – the gritty cops and gangsters thriller. Stuck in development hell since 2004 and even dropped… Continue reading