Not to get too gender normative or anything, but there is this thing called Man Tears. Urban Dictionary defines it as, “When one reaches a certain zenith of unbridled manliness, one cannot cry saline-based tears anymore. Instead, one’s tear ducts will secrete other, lesser men, who then proceed to cry in one’s stead.” I have […]
Film
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And a Drug Trip in a Strip Club
The Night Before just wants to be your friend
Seth Rogen has built a cinematic empire on the back of basically being a fearful Peter Pan. While a huge amount of his roles have centered around man-children caught in the throes of fighting their way out of arrested development, The Night Before manages to sit a little further along the timeline. He is also […]
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Killer Instincts
The Assassin asks for nothing less than complete submission
Upon first viewing, The Assassin can almost be impenetrable. There is court intrigue, hidden motivations, honor taking precedence over logic, and, of course, graceful and gravity-defying wirework. Basically, all the things that make a wuxia martial arts movie great. But Director Hsiao-Hsien Hou and cinematographer Ping Bin Lee are not interested in telling a plot-driven, […]
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They Would Rather Be Rebels Than Slaves
Suffragette misses the point of history
Suffragette is not a story of the suffrage movement, either from its conception or during the days of women finally getting the vote. The film takes place in London in 1912, after the cause was already well established, but still years away from some of the main historical events. The script from Abi Morgan (Shame) […]
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License Revoked
Spectre spectacularly fails to stir
James Bond remains even when we, as a society and civilization, change into something a bit more enlightened than his halcyon days. While I wouldn’t go so far as to describe the character as a remnant of a bygone era, there are still aspects of the series that play as out of touch to a […]
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Hanks For the Memories
Spielberg aims small, strikes big
When it comes to the film obsessed, movie geek and critic crowds, there is a divide surrounding the majority of Steven Spielberg’s work. A steadily growing chunk believes that he is a softy that always lets sentimentality overwhelm his work, especially in the final reel, while some (and the majority of the public) think he […]
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Handsome Chef: The Movie
Burnt can’t even make food porn hot
There is this new term that is being used to describe media that is either uncomfortably sexist or homophobic. The word is “problematic,” which Urban Dictionary says is “frequently used in progressive political settings among white people of a certain education to avoid using herd-frightening words like ‘racist’ or ‘sexist.’” But problematic can also be […]
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Witch, Please!
Problems plague The Last Witch Hunter
Vin Diesel is an interesting fellow. He refuses to talk about his sexuality or his ethnicity; started his career writing, directing, producing, and starring in his first feature; and is an unabashed puppy dog on Facebook. Most importantly, he loves Dungeons and Dragons. He has played for more than 20 years and has even written […]
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So Bloody Romantic
Crimson Peak defies genre
Crimson Peak is going to divide audiences. The advertising campaign is definitely selling, while not quite a different movie, something a little more comfortably defined as horror, when the film is actually a very old-fashioned ghost story. This is a violent gothic romance with some ghosts, secrets, bodice ripping, and face smashing. Anyone expecting something […]
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Glacial Warning
Jumbo Wild drives its point home
A good documentary doesn’t lead its audience by the nose, it shows them where to stick it. Jumbo Wild is one of those rare and wonderful docs that slowly shares all of its facts, making the audience more knowledgeable (and disgusted), while letting all personal judgments come organically. Produced by Sweetgrass Films and Patagonia, Jumbo […]
