Mystery Archives - From | The | Balcony

The Commuter (2018)

Bill Clark — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 17:34:52 +0000

The Liam-Neeson-caught-in-a-pickle formula is basically its own sub-genre at this point. It’s been quite the surprising and profitable turn for Neeson, who spent his early career in dramas and light-as-a-feather comedies. Now a proven action star, he’s back once again in The Commuter, his third collaboration with director Jaume Collet-Serra… Continue reading

The post The Commuter (2018) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

It Comes at Night (2017)

Bill Clark — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 16:27:07 +0000

Travis’s grandfather is not well. As It Comes at Night opens, he has been infected with an unknown disease. His body is covered in open sores, his eyes black, and occasionally he contorts and vomits blood. He mercifully passes on, much to the family’s sadness but ultimate relief. The next… Continue reading

The post It Comes at Night (2017) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

The Girl on the Train (2016)

Bill Clark — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 14:49:47 +0000

Following in the footsteps of 2014’s Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train is another grocery store potboiler turned into a sleek, albeit only moderately involving, thriller. Like Gone Girl, its story is exceedingly ludicrous but a crackling final half hour and fantastic performance from Emily Blunt save a first… Continue reading

The post The Girl on the Train (2016) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Bill Clark — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:32:47 +0000

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

The post Hail, Caesar! (2016) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

Secret In Their Eyes (2015)

Bill Clark — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 17:18:11 +0000

Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of the 2009 Oscar-winning Argentinian film El secreto de sus ojos, is an old-school, taut, and endlessly involving thriller. The suspense-drama isn’t much in style these days, but this film is a swift reminder that the genre can still bring the heat. As adapted… Continue reading

The post Secret In Their Eyes (2015) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

Blackhat (2015)

Bill Clark — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:30:14 +0000

The ongoing struggle to make cyber crime an exciting time at the movies continues with Michael Mann’s Blackhat, a ridiculous, stone-faced mish-mash of genre stereotypes and endless exposition. We’ve come to expect much more from Mann, an accomplished director whose Heat (1995) remains one of the première crime films ever… Continue reading

The post Blackhat (2015) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

Inherent Vice (2014)

Bill Clark — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 14:25:38 +0000

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

The post Inherent Vice (2014) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

Interstellar (2014)

Bill Clark — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 14:00:52 +0000

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is a movie about love. It may travel through black holes, light years, and galaxies, but the basic fact that we, as humans, yearn to take care of and love the ones closest to us is the overarching theme. The film is Nolan’s most ambitious yet and is destined to… Continue reading

The post Interstellar (2014) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

Gone Girl (2014)

Bill Clark — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 15:51:26 +0000

Gone Girl is basically two movies in one; a serious, realistic missing persons boiler followed by a laughably over-the-top second half that comes dangerously close to unraveling the whole works. The film does not depend upon the audience buying wholesale into the numerous twists, but rather the shifting character motivations and completely… Continue reading

The post Gone Girl (2014) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.

Willow Creek (2013)

Bill Clark — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 13:29:34 +0000

Writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait has become quite the daring and provocative filmmaker in his post-acting years. His God Bless America and World’s Greatest Dad are both biting satires and pitch black social commentaries on contemporary America. With Willow Creek, Goldthwait switches gears completely and explores the found footage horror sub-genre. It’s one… Continue reading

The post Willow Creek (2013) appeared first on From | The | Balcony.