I’m about to make a BIG statement. The 1972 film What’s Up, Doc? may be the greatest comedy ever made. Now from what I can tell, most people will say “huh?” For one, a lot of people don’t know any movies older than the 80s or 90s. If that’s the time frame I am confidant […]
Thor: The Dark World (hereafter Thor 2) is Marvel’s second post-Avengers solo-super-hero film, and it proves that Iron Man 3‘s success was no fluke. Marvel has indeed figured out how to make great films that don’t have 5 all-star headliners. Thor 2 improves on its predecessor (Thor, not The Avengers) in every way. The scope is bigger, the stakes are higher, the […]
If you’re gonna talk about classic movies at Halloween time, the most obvious choices are Frankenstein or Dracula or The Mummy or The Birds. So Melissa Tagg and I didn’t choose any of those. Instead, we had fun with a different sort of Halloween tale from Hollywood’s Golden Age–Arsenic and Old Lace. This movie is […]
So, the American government RIGHT? Oy. What a mess. As someone who teaches all things U.S. politics and government I will at least say how good these crazy political times are for in class discussion and case studies on dysfunctional government. It is what it is though, so what can you do? Well, Melissa Tagg […]
For as long as I can remember, film critics and aficionados have considered Citizen Kane to be the greatest movie ever made. For years I just snubbed my nose at the thought without ever asking why. When I finally did become curious during college, the only adults around simply muttered their version of “whatevs” and […]
Cold-blooded murder has been around ever since Cain slaughtered his brother Abel in history’s first sibling rivalry. It just took Hollywood a few thousand years to come along and show us the seedy underside of humanity in an artistic way that allowed voyeurs to eat popcorn while they watched. With such strict restrictions on content […]
Don Jon is new-Hollywood-darling Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s debut film. Not as an actor, of course – JGL’s been wowing us since 3rd Rock from the Sun. But he wrote, directed and starred in Don Jon. And just in case Don Jon is too subtle for you (which is highly unlikely), JGL has stated clearly in numerous […]
Ryan, you’ve gotta learn to let go. – Kowalski Let’s get this out of the way up front: Alfonso Cuaron’s latest film Gravity is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Reviewers are calling it a near-perfect cinematic experience and they’re right. You need to see this film, and see it on the biggest […]
I had this professor back in college. We worked well together but didn’t have much in common. Then one day as we studied the historical era between the Great Depression and World War II she introduced me to a classic movie called Bringing Up Baby. I’m trying to figure out if that was a watershed moment […]
Over the years, plenty of constant readers have wondered, What ever happened to Danny Torrence? Danny Torrence, of course, is that five-year-old boy with the special ability called “shining”, who narrowly escaped death at the hands of his father, who’d been driven insane by a haunted hotel. Or rather, that’s who Danny Torrence was. Apparently […]