Villains are an essential part of genre cinema. Though scores of filmmakers have attempted to create truly great villains throughout the history of film, only a few have succeeded in achieving this difficult goal. Best Movie Villains 2000s The criteria for this article is the villains must be from live-action films only, and must pose …
The Academy Award for Best Picture is a fascinating prize. Some years, it seems like the winner is a clear indicator of what people will remember best about that particular year in film. Others, the prize feels almost meaningless, awarded more out of some arbitrary sense of importance than because the prize will actually mean …
Joel and Ethan Coen have built a reputation as two of the most visionary and idiosyncratic filmmakers working today. Dabbling in Film Noir to screwball comedy, from off-beat indies to big-budget studio pieces, their films are adored by critics and audiences alike.
Throughout the vast history of cinema the profession of law enforcement has been portrayed heavily and made its mark on the big screen in both dramatic and comical fodder. Whether it be straight up cops and robbers or crooked officers on the take in gangster flicks or ant-hero gun-slinging loners trying to buck the system …
In his later years, the novelist Cormac McCarthy has circled like a vulture around the theme of death, specifically its inevitable grip on humanity. No Country for Old Men and The Road presented very different worlds, both filled with men trying desperately to withstand the inexorable hand of the reaper, and eventually realizing that there wasn’t much left but to give into what comes for us all. Such an existential fear is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the foundation of McCarthy’s newest foray, his screenplay for the crime thriller The Counselor. Its director is the prolific Ridley Scott, and its cast is impressively stacked, but this is a McCarthy story through and through, which is mostly heartening news.
If cinema has anything to say about it, the modern American dream is best typified by a grandiose level of entitlement in those who covet it most of all. Just a month ago, we saw Spring Breakers, a nightmarish, neon piece of grotesquerie, compelling experimental art about nubile young women trying to attain their hedonistic Western utopia by stealing from and killing people who dared get in their way, consequences be damned.
In the traditional western, the hero saves the town, kills the villain, and all is right. But more often than not the genre depicts America’s ugliness – it’s injustices and cruelty. America, despite it’s great qualities and liberties, was built on violence and injustice. Many filmmakers have opted to show this historical accuracy instead of …
Having focused perhaps too much attention on the negatives in cinema during recent musings, whether it’s the possibly warped conservatism of the Oscars, or films that are depressingly poor, time has come for this writer to look at some positives. So what could be more positive than the films that you simply must watch again, …
We recently posted an article (along with some images) about the upcoming Quentin vs. Coen – art show by Spoke Art. The show is you guessed it, a tribute to the films of Tarantino and the Brothers”, a followup to last year’s highly successful Bad Dads – a tribute to Wes Anderson. Ken Harman (founder …
10- Donnie Darko (2001) Directed by Richard Kelly Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror / Mystery Although Donnie Darko was removed from the big screen after a few weeks, it never disappeared. Thrown away by its distributor it ended up finding its audience on home video and at midnight screenings. Recurrent chats on the Internet indicated a …
10- Donnie Darko (2001) Directed by Richard Kelly Although Donnie Darko was removed from the big screen after a few weeks, it never disappeared. Thrown away by its distributor it ended up finding its audience on home video and at midnight screenings. Recurrent chats on the Internet indicated a rapidly growing fan base for the …