Nothing has more impact on a nation than when an act of terrorism hits home. A disaster like that brings a rattled world together with a resolve to press forward through strength and perseverance. That same notion also extends individually from person to person and when a devastating catastrophe happens to you or someone close…
“Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides” — William Shakespeare, King Lear Except for unrelenting bulldogs like Seymour Hersh (who had to publish his latest article outside of the U.S.), true investigative journalism seems to have become as obsolete as the 8-Track Tape. Tom McCarthy’s (“The Cobbler”) Spotlight, however, reminds us of what it was…
With just a handful of mostly stationary wide shots and a mere twelve minutes of actual screentime, writer/director Jörn Threlfall examines a cinematic crime scene with a clinical curiosity and an eerie air of mystery. He introduces no character arcs in his powerful short Over, instead engaging his audience by putting us in the role…
Every Secret Thing begins with a birthday party — a pool party. 11-year-old Alice is thrilled to have been invited, but she’s really annoyed that her mother makes her bring Ronnie along. Ronnie is weird, quiet, and awkward, and she’s stalling Alice’s plans to be a popular girl. Also, Alice really doesn’t like that her…
We’re fascinated by superheroes. Our fascination mainly stems from the fact that no matter how much we get to know them, we never get to know them enough; they keep surprising us over and over again. At the brink of every new challenge, of every new puzzle or danger, we still hold the belief that…
A good mystery movie doesn’t necessarily need a great mystery to work, but it certainly helps. So a bad mystery movie with a bland, boring mystery must be pretty damned from the start. That’s where Frank the Bastard finds itself, since despite having a mysterious title and a mysterious premise (a young woman confronts her…
Paige Pritchard (Marina Petrano) is your average teenager — she loves her cell phone, her older brother, and hanging out with her friends. She also lies occasionally to her parents, and one night, she tells her parents that she’ll be spending the night at her friend’s house when she actually goes to a party in…
