Having a perfect career in Hollywood is definitely hard, especially when you’re an adored leading man. All leading men have had their failures, but the best of them quickly pick themselves up and move along and improve the next time. Johnny Depp has been a popular actor for over two decades now, and it so…
Category: Crime
Sicario (2015)
Denis Villeneuve is a filmmaker capable of making thrilling drama and emotional brilliance, and as a visual storyteller, he is absolutely phenomenal. With the release of his sadly underrated Prisoners two years ago, Villeneuve has started to gain somewhat of a mainstream following, which resulted in him being able to do a large studio film,…
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
In the great legions of Hollywood legends, one person I have never seen the appeal for is Robert Mitchum. Sure, his performance in The Night of the Hunter is brilliant, but I just never saw what was so excellent about him. Despite years of great film noir in his heyday, it was a performance he…
Inherent Vice (2014)
Oh boy, am I tired of defending Inherent Vice. I have been anticipating this film since it was announced years ago. I adore Thomas Pynchon, I adore Paul Thomas Anderson and I adore Joaquin Phoenix. They are my cinematic dream team. There was no way I would be disappointed with a film involving these three…
Starred Up (2014)
Prison films are a horrid, but very popular, subgenre of films these days. One of the most iconic films of all time, The Shawshank Redemption, is a prison film. The hottest show on TV at the moment, Orange is the New Black, is centered around a prison. There are many prison films, including the overlooked…
Nightcrawler (2014)
Film fans are bunch who absolutely adore comparison and allusion. If a film bears a resemblance to an an older, more notable film, we say its a homage. If it is unfavorably similar to another film, its a rip-off. However, most of all, we love to find our versions of classic films. Perhaps the one most…
We Own the Night (2007)
Joaquin Phoenix may very well be the greatest actor of his generation. For years, he has played fascinating and compelling characters in a variety of brilliant films from some of the best filmmakers in the business. Two of his regular contributors always bring out the best in him. Paul Thomas Anderson, who brought out Joaquin’s…
Zodiac (2007)
True crime – one of the most terrifying genres of filmmaking. Maybe not because of the content, but because of the fact that we sit there, tensely remembering how these events actually happened. Most of the time, the films are wrapped up in a neat little bow, giving closure to the audience. Not Zodiac. Zodiac…
Cecil B. Demented (2000)
“Power to the people who punish bad cinema” – that remains one of my core mantras after seeing this very weird film. John Waters took perhaps his most courageous leap of faith with this film – it wasn’t about trailer trash or suburban life in Baltimore. Instead, it was a satire on the film industry…
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema. His contributions to cinema are forever cemented in the films he directed – from Network, one of the greatest films of all time, to Dog Day Afternoon, a star-making turn for Al Pacino (which really says something considering he starred in two Godfather movies before this) and everything from play…
The Postmodern Pelican 