Movie Review: Trumbo (2015)
In the realm of Hollywood, journalism, and first-amendment pioneer circles, Dalton Trumbo—one of the infamous Hollywood ten brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 for communist affiliations—has been canonized as some sort of civil liberties saint. Creating a heroic mythos of a man blacklisted from being able to create does a disservice to … Continue reading
Movie Review: Brooklyn (2015)
The vague bromide “home is where the heart is” might be a feel-good phrase to hear during desperate times, but its simplicity ignores just how complicated the heart can be. Our hearts can be divided, pulled, even torn between two or more promising options—whether it’s love, career, country, or the road that allows one to … Continue reading
Movie Review: Crimson Peak (2015)
The latest brooding visual fantasia from the visionary mind of Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro is an exceptionally difficult puzzle of a film to define. Crimson Peak is equal parts a throwback to Gothic Victorian romances, a passionate embrace of pseudo-horror fantasy, and a complex web of the director’s personal influences. Del Toro includes nods … Continue reading
Movie Review: Bridge of Spies (2015)
It doesn’t matter what type of reflection you’re attempting to create within the vise of a Cold War thriller there will always be comparisons to the bard of espionage himself, John le Carré. His unflinching and cynical perspective—a quality that made his name synonymous with all spy novelizations—represented a poetic extension of the ugly political … Continue reading
Movie Review: Pan (2015)
If you have ever found yourself pondering the origins of Peter Pan, then you have already missed the point of J.M. Barrie’s eponymous Victorian fable of “The Boy Who Would Never Grow Up.” Peter Pan is not meant to be exposed for motivation, but should be seen as a beacon for our younger selves to … Continue reading
Movie Review: Steve Jobs (2015)
Steve Jobs—mythological computer pioneer, tech savvy guru, and unpleasant rationalist who kept his life relentlessly private—remains to this day a complex enigma. No matter how extensively he is psychoanalyzed through news articles, biographies (most notably Walter Isaacson’s 2013 acclaimed best seller Steve Jobs), or even documentaries, the man remains a mystery to those who idolize … Continue reading
Movie Review: The Martian (2015)
Science-fiction used to reside in the realm of dreams–a genre choice where fantasies about the infinite possibilities beyond our stars ignited universal wonder. However, with each scientific discovery (either from exploration or theoretical reasoning) there are debilitating after-effects, where creative fictional possibilities become rather limited. That is especially so for our continually explored neighboring planet … Continue reading
Movie Review: The Walk (2015)
Sigmund Freud once stated, “A madman is a dreamer awake,” and you can be sure there was no one madder than French Aerialist Philippe Petit. Driven by creative passion, a resilience of spirit, and a touch (or more) of naive lunacy, Philippe famously wire-walked more than 1,300 feet above New York streets, between the World … Continue reading
Movie Review: The Green Inferno (2015)
“Don’t think–Act,” rants Alejandro (Ariel Levy) in Eli Roth’s latest addition to his exploitation-of-violence cinema entitled The Green Inferno. It’s a line intended to invoke laughter for those willing to see the humor in a group of sanctimonious, privileged college students guided by reactionary emotion rather than thoughtful planning. Donning masks and paraphrasing Saul Alinsky … Continue reading
Movie Review: The Intern (2015)
There is only one word that seems appropriate in summarizing a Nancy Meyers film: superficial. Her distracted focus on lavish sets, formulaic escapism, and an innocuous blend of forced sentimentality has come to define her idea of the modern romantic comedy, for better and (definitely) for worse. Some of her films, including It’s Complicated (2009) … Continue reading
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