I love a good thriller, and nothing is more entertaining than a fantastically trashy psychological thriller. One of the most delightfully campy thrillers I’ve seen recently is Pacific Heights, which is a bizarre film, because despite having one of the most brilliant filmmakers at the helm, and a very talented cast, it is a purely…
Category: Crime
Hard Eight (1996)
There is not a shortage of times where I have expressed my absolutely admiration and adoration for Paul Thomas Anderson. I believe him to be possibly the greatest living filmmaker, and someone that matches the talents of all the greatest filmmakers in history. A cinematic chameleon, Anderson is able to twist and manipulate any genre…
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015)
Something I love about foreign-language cinema (meaning films from countries other than the USA or United Kingdom) is the fact that it can be so brilliantly strange, bizarre and wonderful, and that it doesn’t need to stick to any conventions to be seen, which is something that keeps many original ideas from being made in…
Natural Born Killers (1994)
I was opposed to seeing this film for the longest time. As an enormous Quentin Tarantino fan, I have been reluctant to watch this film, because the idea that someone would take a script that the young, idealistic genius wrote and completely mangled it beyond recognition was a travesty, and Tarantino himself certainly agreed, because…
Black Mass (2015)
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…
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…
The Postmodern Pelican 