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Recent Reviews
- Good Kill – An artistic exploration of drone assassinations
- Citizenfour – a fascinating and important topic, but a disappointing documentary
- Interstellar – Probably the best film of the year, certainly the most enjoyable!
- Laggies – a delightful little film about late-blooming misfits
- Two Days, One Night – it’s (almost) exactly what you expect it to be
- Whiplash – a disgusting, stupidly manipulative piece of absurdity.
- Still Alice – big stars, big production, but still just a Hallmark movie of the week
- Wild – it’s surprisingly well-made and fun to watch
- Black Sea – diverting, but sadly predictable
- Birdman (Or the Expected Emptiness of Pretension)
- Mr. Turner – Planet of the Ape
- The Imitation Game – It’s an abomination
- A Brief Word on the 2014 Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts
- Kill The Messenger – The important and tragic story of Gary Webb, the mainstream media, and the CIA
- This is Where I Leave You – the latest in a long line of “family reunion” movies
- A review of summer cinema – it was pretty grim!
- The Trip to Italy – It never should have been made
- A Most Wanted Man – Superficially entertaining, but poorly-made and overrated
- Magic in the Moonlight – It’s pissing me off!
- The Purge: Anarchy – Surprisingly, it’s rather good
- I Origins – ambitious and entertaining
- Boyhood – a bit one dimensional, but its one dimension is lovely, impressive and fun to experience
- Obvious Child – cute, dignified and gutsy
- Snowpiercer – a fantastic, riveting science fiction action allegory
- Edge of Tomorrow – it’s fairly entertaining
- Begin Again – confronting the future of pop music head-on
- The Fault in Our Stars – not super-moving, but definitely enjoyable
- Hellion – a gritty tale of fucked up parents and children
- Night Moves – a cool, subtle portrayal of hippy-liberal activism turned violent
- Cold In July – an outstandingly fun and unusual film, and a paean for the 1980s
- Austenland – so horrible, I’m speechless
- Elena – 80 minutes of torture
- Lucky Them – Toni Collette takes center stage and lights up the screen!
- Belle – it means well, but God is it slow (and dull)
- Finding Vivian Maier – an okay documentary on a fascinating artist
- The German Doctor (Wakolda) – Diverting, but feels more than a little contrived
- Chef – it’s heart is in the right place
- Jodorowsky’s Dune – a bizarre and amazing documentary
- Hateship, Loveship – it goes down well
- Divergent – entertaining, but there’s a lot wrong with it
Author Archives: roguespirit
Breakheart Pass (1975) – when shit looked REAL!
Breakheart Pass: when stuff in films looked real because it WAS real! If Breakheart Pass was being made today, there is no way they would haul their asses out to the middle of fucking nowhere and shoot everything live on … Continue reading
Posted in Films of the 1970s
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Night Catches Us – an interesting and well-made little film
There are lots of films that try to capture the visual world of the 1970’s. Most of them wind up looking fake and staged (think American Gangster). Not Night Catches Us – it’s as if you are right back in … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
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The 2011 Oscars – who will win?
Last year I got 4 of 5, missing only Hurt Locker (who would ever guess that obscure piece of trash would win?!) The year before I got all five perfectly. Let’s see how I do this year! Best Supporting Actress: … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
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The Fighter – a disappointing and highly flawed movie
My wife and I went to see The Fighter last night only because it is nominated for Best Picture and for many individual acting awards. We wanted to see what everyone was raving about. As we left the theater my … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
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The Company Men – Lame!
The Company Men seems like it should be a good film. Big stars, good trailer, a very timely and important social topic, critical acclaim. But at the end of the day it really is a pretty lame and unimpressive movie. … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
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Black Swan – B-grade horror, nothing more
As I watched watched this silly little movie, one thought kept running through my head: Haven’t these people ever heard of nail clippers?! I’m not going to explain that, so as to not give anything away, but honestly I would … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
Tagged 2011 Best Actress Nomination, 2011 Best Film Nomination, Darren Aronofsky, Natalie Portman
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True Grit (2010) – It’s okay, I suppose
Anyone who reads this blog can see that I do not love the Coen Brothers, but True Grit is an okay movie. This is due in large part to the fact that it’s not their story, although you can easily … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Luftslottet som sprängdes) – They blew it!
Well, they lost their nerve! I’m so pissed! The Swedish filmmakers tackling this trilogy had done a really good job translating to screen The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire, translations distinguished by respect … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
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Next Stop, Wonderland (1996): An Appreciation
There was really something special about what I call the “indie renaissance,” which began in the early 1990s and was all but over by 2000. During this period, a unique style of film making started to get traction, a style … Continue reading
Posted in Appreciations (Irreviews Favorites), Films of the 1990s
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Fair Game – The Best Film of the Year
Not only is Fair Game far and away the best film of the year, it is without question destined to be a timeless classic. My wife and I were in complete agreement about its fabulousness, and we discussed the film’s many … Continue reading
Posted in 2010
Tagged Fair Game, Naomi Watts, Sean Penn
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