Something is very wrong with Emily, the lead protagonist/antagonist in Steven Soderbergh’s new thriller Side Effects. What it is, we’re not quite sure of yet, but it has something to do with an experimental drug, a convicted husband, sneaky corporate execs and murder. Tying these facets together is a screenplay by Scott Burns and an…
Director Andrew Dominik’s third feature film after “Chopper” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” 2012’s Killing Them Softly is a brutal tale of mob politics based on George V. Higgins’ 1974 novel “Cogan’s Trade.” On top of being a gritty gangster picture, the film provides a thoughtful commentary on America’s…
Feral girls, a mangled spectre and a creepy locale make for the setup of Guillermo del Toro’s latest horror film Mama. For it an international trailer was released today by Universal Pictures (complete with Spanish subtitles) and there are more than enough elements contained within to make one feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, most of these elements…
The first trailer for Jack Reacher didn’t amount to much, but the second one, which was released today by Paramount Pictures, does. A more flavorful taste of the plot is revealed and along with it a healthy dose of tough guy talk and action that backs it up. Tom Cruise plays the cool titular character…
You don’t see the late ’70s or early ’80s get represented in the movies very often. Audiences are used to seeing movies set in the ’60s, during World War II or in the Old West, but seeing action take place in 1980 just feels foreign. Everybody still smokes (even on airplanes), shirt collars are enormous,…
Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is guilty of multiple felonies including involuntary manslaughter and investment fraud, but he is not really an evil man. In fact, the audience is on his side in Arbitrage; you want him to win and get away with it all. You feel this way not because you’re callous and root for…
Sounds punctuate the neighborhood in Kleber Filho’s exhilarating Neighboring Sounds (Brazilian title, O som ao redor): A dog barks incessantly, street vendors blast their stereos, the noise of TVs reverberate through the streets, a vacuum cleaner rumbles, a washing machine vibrates, and a car sideswipes another. Neighboring Sounds employs a wealth of cinematography and sound…
