“Blood is thicker than water” – it’s an adage that we’ve all encountered from time to time, and it is decidedly quite relevant to many of us since there is something about familial bonds, whether referring to biological or chosen connections, that make for quite profound commentary. However, when those bonds begin to sour, new…

Many of us enjoy comedies, while others are partial to a good crime story. Then some adore a decently-made gangster picture, and those of us who love the experience of a strongly-constructed thriller. Somehow, there is a film that combines all four of these genres, and even adds in a bit of social satire and…

If there was ever any example of the importance of not judging a film by its title, To Catch a Killer is one of the most appropriate candidates. Despite its generic title that seems more like what the writer would use to pitch the project rather than the overall encapsulation of the story, the film…

In the early 1960s, the American public (as well as the rest of the world) was captivated by the existence of the serial killer known as The Boston Strangler, an individual who spent the years between 1962 and 1964 on a trail of murder, his victims being over a dozen single women that he targeted…

We may tend to think that Hollywood was built on the big-budget spectacle, put together by masterful craftsmen that had strong directorial vision, and guide by the watchful eye of the tyrannical producers that kept them on the straight and narrow. However, what we soon come to realize after a while is that, while important,…

You never can have quite enough paranoia when it comes to the subject of bureaucrats. Whether governmental or in terms of law enforcement, those who occupy any position with civil servitude are immersing themselves in a very challenging world, specifically in regards to some of the draconian policies that govern these institutions, supposedly in favour…

It seems almost too ludicrous to be true, but there was a time when Joel and Ethan Coen weren’t the iconic stalwarts of filmmaking they are today, but rather obscure independent storytellers, film school graduates without any experienced, venturing into Hollywood with nothing but ambition and a couple of strong ideas for stories. Blood Simple,…

There are two ways to make a good sequel – either hire the exact same people and attempt to replicate exactly what made the original such a success in the first place, or do everything extremely differently, keeping the similarities to the film that preceded it to an absolute minimum, as a way of avoiding…