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Movie Review: Inside Llewyn Davis
In scenes organized like the complimentary songs of a weary 2:00 am vinyl album, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis unfolds as another of their heartfelt, seriocomic, unsentimental, fine-brush portraits of distinctly-Jewish men at an existential dead-end (Barton Fink, A Serious Man) – this time set amidst the grey dawn of the early Sixties boom in the Greenwich Village of folk clubs, earnes...[Read More]
Movie Review: Saving Mr. Banks
Know that when you go see Saving Mr. Banks, you are not going to see a Tom Hanks film. You are going to see an Emma Thompson film. And you just might be awfully glad you did, my friends. Truth be told, I’m not a huge Disney fan. I enjoy the Disney movies I watch, though I haven’t seen all (or even most) of them. I do, however, admire the story behind P.L. Travers and her treasured Mary Poppins, an...[Read More]
Hustlin’ His Way to the Top: The Films of David O. Russell
It’s a very exciting time to be a film junkie. Gone are the days when a film’s art house appeal meant it had to be subtitled. Now we have our very own cadre of American filmmakers all jockeying for the spot of top dog. David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky, Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers, and P.T. Anderson are all in contention for the title of our generation’s greatest director. However, there is...[Read More]
Movie Review: Anchorman 2 The Legend Continues
Ron Burgundy is back! Just as arrogant and charming as we remember. But Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is strictly for fans alone. It will be completely unappreciated by anyone that does not get the epic nuances of the masterful Will Ferrell. The storyline is based in the early 1980s and the beginning of the currently popular twenty-four-hours-a-day-news trend. The first station to offer this i...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: The King of the Monsters Returns in Godzilla
Hollywood is being good to us this December, dear readers. This past weekend brought us The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – which is a lot of fun, and I definitely recommend it – and this week sees the release of American Hustle and Saving Mr. Banks, both of which I’m quite looking forward to. And in even more good news, this week’s Trailer Trashin’ column is one I’ve bee...[Read More]
The Detroit Film Critics Society Announces 2013 Awards
The Detroit Film Critics Society is pleased to announce the best of 2013 in ten categories. The society was founded in Spring 2007 and consists of a group of twenty Michigan film critics who write or broadcast in the Detroit area as well as other major cities within a 150-mile radius of the city including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Flint, Michigan. Each critic submitted their...[Read More]
The Five Best Martin Scorsese Films
Hollywood has always had a peculiar way of treating its artists. Usually after celebrating an initial spark of genius, the studios, media, or loyal fans often watch the once promising talent fizzle out with a bang, or more times, with a quiet whimper. Either way, it remains a difficult feat to stay relevant in Hollywood. Martin Scorsese is an example of the rare filmmaker who has been working for ...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is Back in The Amazing Spider-Man 2
We’re another week closer to Christmas, and I was very happy to see Frozen take the top spot at the box office this past weekend. In the meantime, this week’s new Trailer Trashin’ examines yet another of next year’s big upcoming films – The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Premise: Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) continues to struggle with balancing his life as a high school student an...[Read More]
Movie Review: Charlie Countryman
Charlie Countryman is a beautifully photographed, masterfully acted, and completely frustrating mess of a film. After the death of his mother, Charlie (Shia LeBeouf), is told by the woman’s ghost that he should to go to Bucharest. The drug-addled, wayward youth jumps at the chance to follow his mother’s wishes and books a seat on a plane to a city he’s less than familiar with. Once on board, he be...[Read More]
Trailer Trashin’: Jean-Claude Van Damme Plays Crazy in Enemies Closer
I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, dear readers, and I hope a lot of you got out to see Frozen over the holiday weekend. December is finally here, and it’s time for us all to start preparing for our preferred winter holidays. In the meantime, this week’s slightly belated Trailer Trashin’ column takes a look at Enemies Closer, one of next January’s more low-profile rele...[Read More]
A Kid Film Critic Reviews Frozen
Frozen was a really great movie but the songs got a little annoying. The movie is a cartoon musical. Most of the songs were good but some went on for too long. I liked the movie because it was interesting and was not just another true love’s first kiss story. Frozen starts off with two Princess, Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) and Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) who live with their parents in a ...[Read More]
Movie Review: Frozen
Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph was one of my favorite movies last year, and it gave me a good feeling to see that the House of Mouse can still make great animated films even when they aren’t under the Pixar banner. After that, I was eagerly anticipating the next Disney animated feature, Frozen, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen and written and co-directed by Jennifer L...[Read More]