In anticipation of the Coen Bros’ Hail Caesar, I’ve been catching up on my Coen Canon (Coenon?) lately, finally watching some of their classic films that I somehow managed to miss. Raising Arizona, their 1987 comedy starring Nicolas Cage, is next up on my list, and what a lovely coincidence that this gorgeous new art print for the …
Seth Rogen and James Franco forgot one thing when making The Interview: you won’t offend anyone if you go after a tyrant who’s already dead. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true, but the next team of people likely to stir international controversy over a silly comedy are Borat director Larry Charles and none other than …
As much credit as we give to the 80s for canonizing overkill in action films, we don’t give enough recognition to the 90s for producing some of the most out-and-out insane premises to action films that you can’t make today. In the center of it all was Nicolas Cage. Cage has made a career out …
De Palma has relied on expressionist imagery and self-reflexivity for most of his career, so why is it a problem with Snake Eyes? Were critics expecting a different sort of experience because of the genre? Either way, the issue seems worth delving into, if only to unpack false notions of the film being a waste of time.
Unquestionably one of the principle elements that put fear into studio at the thought of financing Kick-Ass was the level of unfiltered violence featured throughout. Witnessing bullets ripping through flesh is nothing knew for anyone who has paid attention to recent action films, and experiencing the slicing and dicing of body limbs with a shiny sword should sound familiar to those who have seen the Kill Bill films, but it is the way the violence is handled at times in Kick-Ass that differentiates it from many other movies of the same ilk.
Joe Directed by David Gordon Green Written by Gary Hawkins US, 2013 A popular view is that humanity is unfit for this world. It has been examined many times throughout art. In the Larry Brown novel, Joe (1991), David Gordon Green adeptly utilizes rural syntax and naturalistic setting to express heady themes about man’s capacity …
Review #1 Joe Written by Gary Hawkins Directed by David Gordon Green USA, 2013 Despite his early filmography making him a critical favourite and causing film lovers to sing his praises, David Gordon Green’s recent ventures have moved sharply away from such films. The same can be said of Nicolas Cage, who has unfortunately been …
Serial killers have provided ripe material for film for several years, both directly and indirectly. Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal horror classic Psycho famously had a lead character modelled after Ed Gein, while David Fincher’s Zodiac notably took a different tack by focusing on an ultimately unsuccessful investigation.
Casting sometimes is fate and destiny more than skill and talent, from a director’s point of view. – Steven Spielberg Ah, the joys of hindsight, such as they are. It is so easy to look back on what came about from the small decisions coming together to form an unforgettable whole, and laugh at those …
Wild at Heart Directed by David Lynch Written by David Lynch 1990, USA Wild at Heart, a hyper, often violent and oddly romantic take on The Wizard of Oz, starts off with a lit match and a brutal attack, and ends with a visit from Glenda the Good Witch and Nicolas Cage singing “Love me tender”. …
Wild at Heart Directed by David Lynch Written by David Lynch 1990, USA David Lynch evokes a surreal world in Wild at Heart, a film brimming over with explicit sex, murder, rape, eccentric kitsch and sleaze. There is some rather horrifyingly violence, beginning with the opening scene where a man is beaten to death, to a moment …
The Croods Directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders Written by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco USA, 2013 The Croods is unmistakably a DreamWorks Animation film, something fitting with their recent output. The company has been churning out decent, if unmemorable animated films when not delivering pop-culture-heavy Shrek-like stories. And this new movie, about a …
The Croods Written and directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk De Micco USA, 2013 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon is arguably Dreamworks Animation’s creative high point to date, and was directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the team behind Lilo & Stitch, one of the best hand-drawn animations from Disney since their 90s …
While his recent cinematic ventures have been more in the broad comedy vein, David Gordon Green’s earlier work, such as All the Real Girls and Snow Angels, were character-driven dramas that endeared him to the indie film community, and many fans have lamented his move away from such fare. It seems that Gordon Green himself …
On this week’s Mousterpiece Cinema, Josh and Mike are joined by special guest Casey Ryan to tackle not one, but two movies. Yes, they shoved a discussion of the 2004 adventure film National Treasure along with its 2007 sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets into one jam-packed episode. The double-movie package may be a blessing …
National Treasure Directed by Jon Turteltaub Written by Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley Starring Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight National Treasure: Book of Secrets Directed by Jon Turteltaub Written by Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley Starring Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Ed Harris, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren …
Drive Angry 3D Directed by Patrick Lussier Written by Todd Farmer and Patrick Lussier USA, 2011 The latest attempt to bottle vintage grindhouse thrills with the aid of a name-brand star and a (relatively) huge budget, Patrick Lussier’s Drive Angry isn’t as odious as some of the attempted revivalists (Bitch Slap remains the gruesome nadir), …
A while back we posted the video Nicolas Cage Loses His Shit, by editor Harry Hanrahan. Well Harry is back with another montage, this time showcasing the evolution of Nicolas Cage’s hair. If there’s one thing more versatile than Cage’s brand of mania, it’s Cage’s hairstyles over the years, which come complete with their own …
Season of the Witch Directed by Dominic Sena Written by Bragi F. Schut 2010, USA As if to simplify things for the beleaguered critic, Season of the Witch makes clear right away that it has absolutely no stake in its own moral credibility. After a brief – and ambiguity-destroying – prologue, in which a priest …
Swingers (1996) Directed by Doug Liman It really isn’t hard to see why this film has acquired a cult following. The atmosphere is laid back, the dialogue is some of the best in any 90’s comedy, the characters are appealing and well-drawn, the casting is perfect, the soundtrack is great, and the situations are honest …