After being absolutely bowled over by the brilliance of Clerks a few days ago, I just had to seek out the sequel. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much – I thought that if Kevin Smith could just capture a fraction of the brilliance from the first film, then the film would be worth it. Needless to…
My Favorite Year (1982)
I have begun to have a great appreciate for Peter O’Toole recently – not only as an actor (I always maintained by statement that he was perhaps the greatest actor of all time), but as a comedic actor. While his performance in Lawrence of Arabia and The Lion in Winter are absolutely tremendous, it were…
The Lady in the Van (2015)
Who doesn’t love Dame Maggie Smith? I truly don’t think there is anyone quite like her. Consider that she has had a career for over half a century now, and with so many iconic performances under her belt, she has every right to rest on her laurels. However, considering that she shows absolutely no sign…
Clerks (1994)
As someone that frequently defends independent cinema, and have canonized the indie filmmakers that arose in the 1990s, it was always my secret shame that I had never seen Clerks, the film that launched Kevin Smith to auteur fame. It isn’t that I found the story uninteresting – in fact, the story fits right into…
Knight of Cups (2016)
In the pantheon of great filmmakers, Terrence Malick is amongst the very best. His streak of films between 1973 and 1998 (in the space of those twenty-five years, Malick only made three films, but each one of them towering masterpieces). He also did majestic work in The New World and made an excellent experimental coming-of-age…
The Ruling Class (1972)
Peter O’Toole is perhaps the greatest actor of all time. From his breakout role in Lawrence of Arabia to his final roles on television and in cinema as the dignified elder statesman of great acting, O’Toole was an absolute titan of acting, and each of his performances were brilliant. Now many people point to the…
Zootopia (2016)
There isn’t any reason to go into an explanation as to why animated films are brilliant – so I will not. However, I will reiterate that there is not any better experience than a fully-realized, interesting animated film that is unique, original and wonderful. Animated films are artistically ingenious at times, and can very often…
The Overdue Club
So the film industry finally had one constant issue put to rest last Sunday when Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his sublime performance in The Revenant. However, DiCaprio’s win does not mean all is right in the film industry right now, as there are many other performers who have…
The Best Films of 2015
So finally, it is that time of year again – the Academy Awards are tomorrow, and while they are preparing to honor the best of the year, I am preparing to do my own, where I list the very best films of the year. As usual, I will be listing five honorable mentions, essentially films…
Mr. Holmes (2015)
There has never been a shortage of representations of Sherlock Holmes, arguably the most famous detective in the history of literature. From the classic Basil Rathbone films, to the glut of representations in the modern age, ranging from the excellent Sherlock, to the gloriously entertaining Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr, to the mediocre Elementary,…
The Postmodern Pelican 