[8] Charlize Theron stars as Aileen Wuornos, the infamous Florida prostitute who became a serial killer, in this film chronicling her last few months of freedom before being captured and executed in 2002. Writer/director Patty Jenkins doesn’t shy away from Wuornos’ crimes, but aims to paint a more complex portrait of the woman who committed them. Monster introduces us to Wuornos as she’s contemplating suicide, …
[8] This is probably one of the most brutal and harrowing horror films of the past ten or fifteen years. Michael Fassbender hopes to pop the question to his girlfriend Kelly Reilly over a romantic weekend that spirals into a nail-biting fight for survival. Eden Lake takes its cues from Deliverance, but with nasty thirteen-year old’s instead of hillbillies. This film is the directorial debut …
[7] Jeepers Creepers begins with a Spielbergesque road ‘Duel‘, and then evolves into a disturbing mystery. Justin Long and Gina Philips give solid performances playing a brother and sister who unwittingly fall prey to the ‘Creeper’, director Victor Salva’s stab at incarnating the boogey man. While the Creeper is kept in shadow, the movie is really good. I especially love how the horror unravels when …
[7] How they shot Winged Migration is almost more fascinating than the film itself. The filmmakers rigged camera equipment to ultralight planes and imprinted with hatching birds of various species to get as close to their subjects as possible. The resulting cinematography is breathtaking, especially if you love birds. The film focuses solely on the migratory patterns of birds all around the world, so the …
[7] Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien) and William Hurt star in this dark, disturbing drama about a troubled young Navy officer (Bernal) who comes to Corpus Christi to find the father he’s never met (Hurt). Unfortunately, Hurt’s character is a devout preacher with a new family and wants nothing to do with his illegitimate son. But that doesn’t stop Bernal from starting an …
[7] Episode III is far and away the best of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Everything I don’t like about the previous two films remains true, namely that it’s over-produced and the characters aren’t very interesting or engaging. But at least George Lucas and co-screenwriter Jonathan Hale finally cash in on some of the story’s dramatic potential. As the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid in a starring …
[6] Part two of George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy is still cluttered and over-produced like the previous installment, but it’s a modest improvement over part one, thanks in large part to a solid final act. But man, oh, man, do you have a long tedious slog to get to that third act. Lucas and co-screenwriter Jonathan Hale bank on cross-cutting story lines (ala Empire …
[7] Judy Irving chronicles the lives of an underemployed street musician, Mark Bittner, and a flock of wild cherry-headed parrots he observes and sometimes cares for in a hilly neighborhood of San Francisco. Bird lovers will enjoy getting to know some of the flock, including its lone blue-headed conure, Connor, who protects the weak and infirm in spite of being under-appreciated by all the red-heads …
[8] In a not-too-distant future Japan, the government cracks down on adolescent shenanigans by randomly selecting one 9th grade class per year to duke it out on a remote island until only one student is standing. Battle Royale starts off with a good dose of operatic, dark humor, but as the teenage body count rises, you actually get to know many of the embattled kids …
[3] One of the now-many thuds on M. Night Shyamalan’s fall from Hollywood grace was this apocalyptic tale of (drum roll) plants exacting revenge on humankind… because they’re mad… or something. It’s hard to believe that it never occurred to Night or Twentieth Century Fox that this would ultimately result in a movie where people do nothing but run from wind machines. Unfortunately, the core …
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