No one even remotely familiar with the director’s oeuvre will ever walk into the theatre expecting to get a blisteringly fast paced actioner that clicks along like it was nobody’s business. The beauty about Tarantino’s style is the very fact that he is, for lack of a better term, indulgent. His dialogue is often funny, sharp, extremely character-driven, referential, and controversial in the best way possible.
Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’ is a timely effort that will raise awareness through its passion but fade through its flaws
Some of the best things in life come in pairs, and film is no different. No, I don’t mean sequels and/or remakes, because I think we all know how those often turn out. Instead, I mean those actors and directors who very frequently collaborate on films, so much so that it feels odd when the …
The Avengers clicked with both Marvel fans and general audiences because we loved watching these massive egos clash for the first time. It was the perfect blend of action and attitude, and its mastermind, Joss Whedon, was handed the golden ticket to Marvel’s keystone franchise. The long-awaited sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, shows the strain of trying to be bigger-and-better while still indulging the subtle pleasures of its predecessor. It succeeds, just barely, on the strength of a talented cast and our fondness for these characters. Still, it’s a decidedly somber affair that will turn off casual fans, and it stands as the most impersonal, and arguable weakest installment of Marvel’s vaunted “Phase Two.”
While officially the script to Kingsman: The Secret Service is credited to director Matthew Vaughn and fellow scribe Jane Goldman, the truth of the matter is that the film represents a reunification of sorts between the veteran British director and comic book author and ‘enfant terrible’ Mark Millar. Their first foray into cinematically transposing a comic book was with 2010’s Kick-Ass,
There’s a hilarious moment in the classic ‘80s comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles when Steve Martin has finally had enough of John Candy’s inane anecdotes. “When you’re telling these little stories,” he instructs Candy, “here’s a good idea… have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!” If only the makers of the new spy actioner Kingsman: The Secret Service had taken that advice. Despite all of its self-satisfied smugness, Kingsman neglects to give us a coherent story, consistent tone, or anything worth caring about. It’s ironic that a film trying so hard to be inventive and outrageous ends up being such a derivative bore.
The 87th Academy Award nominations were released on January 15, 2015 representing the excellence in film for the previous year. Naturally there was the standard controversy regarding those films and performances that got unfairly overlooked. Unfortunately, the perceived snubs do happen from year to year so this goes along with the territory. Nevertheless, the lucky …
I guess it is true. All good things must come to an end some day and it seems like that day is coming soon for Quentin Tarantino and the fans of his movies. According to Deadline, the Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained director is planning on retiring after he makes his tenth film (which means …
It’s Sunday and the final day of the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, typically the quietest day of the convention. After a crazy weekend of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Godzilla 2, Skull Island, Mad Max: Fury Road, Crimson Peak, a ton of TV, and comic news, we’ve got one last big film announcement. As reported by Deadline from the Dynamite Comic’s panel, while promoting the Django Unchained/Zorro crossover comic, Quentin Tarantino confirmed that he is officially moving forward with his new western The Hateful Eight.
The knock on the Academy Awards throughout the years always seem to be how certain actors, directors and films are snubbed in favor of other chosen nominations. Sometimes the justification for these overlooked selections in performances and motion pictures are warranted. Many will agree that a lot of injustices have been committed based on how …
Kite is hyperbolic in every sense imaginable. It’s hyper-stylized without reason, hyper-violent, and incredibly stupid.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo USA, 2014 There is an almost brutal efficiency present in each of the films encompassing the now-vast Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rare is the entry in this mini-canon with a striking level of personal style or brio; though …
RoboCop Written by Joshua Zetumer & Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner Directed by José Padilha USA, 2014 Paul Verhoeven’s science-fiction films RoboCop and Total Recall take place in different environments and eras, but share a similarly raucous, ramshackle, satiric attitude. These films are products of their time, filled with garishly practical effects and grimy, tactile …
RoboCop Written by Joshua Zetumer Directed by José Padilha USA, 2014 The remake of RoboCop is a largely different beast to Paul Verhoeven’s original film, and is all the better for choosing not to be a slavish re-creation minus the trademark ultra-violence. The 2014 take may be less gory and far less cartoonish, but there …
One of the most exciting, complex, and fully realized animated films of the last 20 years is Ratatouille, Pixar’s creative champion to date. The film presents its audience with a patently insane concept—a rat who wants to cook, and become a master of haute cuisine in Paris—and manages to ground every action, every reaction, and every consequence in reality. Not just the reality of the movie, but the reality of the world; when the kitchen staff at Gusteau’s is shown that the gawky young man who took their restaurant by storm is actually controlled, like a marionette, by this sharp, intelligent rat, all but one quit, because what other action would be appropriate?
Jurassic Park, like many of Spielberg’s best films, allows us to be children again, even if this is, ironically, a film most kids would be scared to death by. It’s a movie that indulges in horror-movie tropes while making them feel fresh, layering a patina of intelligence over the intense, earth-rattling action. Though the human-dinosaur face-offs are the stuff of movie legend, the early sections where Drs. Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, and Ellie Sattler debate the ethics of a theme park full of the living, breathing extinct are strangely fascinating and entertaining, at least to 28-year old me.
In just barely over a week since its Christmas release, Quentin Tarantino’s eighth feature film, Django Unchained, has exhaustively become a source of public controversy for its setting amongst southern, pre-Civil War plantations where the height of the black man’s plight in the United States was the accepted norm. Not the least of the film’s …
Django Unchained Directed by Quentin Tarantino Written by Quentin Tarantino USA, 2012 Quentin Tarantino wears his style on his sleeve. Homages, tributes, and callbacks to older films, forgotten performers, and oft-ignored genres are part and parcel of his filmography. But one element of his aesthetic has become more pronounced over the years: his fierce, almost …
There is a lot to be said about writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s success as a filmmaker. His films have all been met with some degree of critical appreciation and have all made some decent money at the box office. What’s more, and this might be his true legacy, his projects have sparked the imaginations of fellow …
Quentin Tarantino is credited for his homages to lesser-known cinematic gems. So much so, he has his own film festival in Austin, Texas. His films have helped revitalise the genres and styles amongst the hidden depths of world cinema but have also helped the careers of various actors and actresses, propelling them to the public …
True Romance Directed by Tony Scott Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino 1993, USA “Not since Bonnie and Clyde have two people been so good at being bad”. Written by one-of-a-kind Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) and directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun, Hunger, Crimson Tide), True Romance is if anything consistently entertaining. This outlaw-lovers-on-the-run flick …
True Romance Directed by Tony Scott Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino 1993, USA “Not since Bonnie and Clyde have two people been so good at being bad”. Written by one-of-a-kind Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) and directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun, Hunger, Crimson Tide), True Romance is if anything consistently entertaining. This outlaw-lovers-on-the-run …
Full credit for this concept belongs to Mark Kermode… Given the law of averages, it’s fairly common that as film fans we’re far more likely to run into a stinker than we are a new classic, or worse still a underwhelming slice of anti-climax that promised so much more. Quite often that leaves us deciphering …