How to Train Your Dragon 2

If you have been following my reviews, you know I believe major animation studios can do absolutely no wrong, and such is the case of How to Train Your Dragon 2, a visually stunning and emotionally charged children’s film that is incredibly charming in so many ways, and even the several problems I had with…

22 Jump Street (2014)

Put me down as a fan of Jonah Hill. He has evolved from the “funny fat kid” in supporting roles in teenage films to becoming one of the brightest young character actors in today’s cinema. He has managed to perfectly balance comedy with prestige drama, and never seem out of place. Hill is a very…

Serial Mom (1994)

Be prepared people, I have been watching a lot of John Waters, so you will be seeing a lot of reviews of his films here in the near future.  Serial Mom – the title is enough for you to know that this is no normal film. It isn’t. Serial Mom is a dark, twisted, hilarious…

An Appreciation of…Roger Ebert (1942 – 2013)

Earlier this week, it would have been Roger Ebert’s 72nd birthday. Sadly, last year he died. The cinema world lost quite possibly its greatest and most beloved critic. Yes, the cinema community actually LOVED a man paid to tell the general public if the film we worked for months on was actually any good. That…

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Allow me, if you will, to gush about a certain Sam Raimi horror film. Not The Evil Dead, but instead his 2009 masterpiece, Drag Me to Hell. In a world where horror is defined by slashers and demons, Sam Raimi dares to create a combination of gothic horror and gory violence, much like The Evil…

The Room (2003)

There is a difference between a bad film and an uninteresting film. An uninteresting film is just a run-of-the-mill, mediocre, crappy effort at making money. They usually end up being boring and unmemorable, and they get produced several times a year. A bad film is a film just so bad, it actually is damn entertaining…

Maleficent (2014)

Let me first say this – regardless of this review, I am just happy to see Angelina Jolie back on the screen after a shocking four-year absence. She is a talented actress, and I am happy she actually made a more family-oriented film. Now onto the review. It is difficult to criticize this film without…

Wake in Fright (1971)

What can I say about a film that has become so legendary, it is often considered the definitive Ozploitation film, and one of the bedrocks of the Australian New Wave movement. Not much, but trying is all the fun, isn’t it? At the outset, this film is shown to take place in a barren, dry…

The Normal Heart (2014)

The journey to get Larry Kramer’s masterpiece The Normal Heart from stage to screen has been a decades-long battle, and finally it appears as a painfully honest and emotional film. When I heard Ryan Murphy would be directing this, I instantly thought “Oh yay, more overacting and hammy performances”, but I will admit that this…

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

I don’t want to undermine their efforts or talents, but you won’t very easily get me to watch an independent Australian drama. It is not because they are untalented or unremarkable or just plain bad, it is just the sensibilities of a lot of independent Australian filmmakers call for a lack of limit or boundaries…