13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Written by Chuck Hogan Directed by Michael Bay U.S., 2016 After the box-office success of Lone Survivor and American Sniper, the cottage industry of military themed January releases continues to go strong. Whereas those films came from Peter Berg and Clint Eastwood, directors known for taking a backseat …
Remember before Keanu Reeves was a badass in The Matrix he was that doofus in a ’80s comedy about time travel that probably isn’t as good as you remember it? You know, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure! It was totally excellent and featured life lessons to live by like “Be Excellent to Each Other” and …
Promised Land Written by John Krasinski and Matt Damon, based on a story by Dave Eggers Directed by Gus Van Sant 2012, USA, imdb, Josh Spiegel’s much more positive review I walked out of the theatre disliking Promised Land and the more I reflect on the film, the less I like it. On paper, there is a …
Promised Land Directed by Gus Van Sant Written by John Krasinski and Matt Damon USA, 2012 When people suffer through desperate times, someone is always ready to capitalize on their fear and confusion. This person, a con artist even if they have a fancy-sounding job title, has the offer of a lifetime, the promise of …
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Dir. John Krasinski John Krasinski deserves some enormous kudos for bringing such a faithful, intelligently constructed and nontraditional adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s writing to the screen–even a flawed one such as Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. Wallace’s work defies filmic adaptation, and it takes incredible heart and chutzpah to even …
Away We Go Directed by Sam Mendes Give Sam Mendes credit – at least he’s finding new ways to make less-than-satisfying films. From the leaden, humorless graphic novel adaptation Road to Perdition, to last year’s hopelessly shrill Revolutionary Road, to this year’s comparatively light road movie Away We Go, Mendes’ troubles at least variate. Away …