Writer/director Paul Schrader has seemingly spent the last decade trying to add as many movies as he possibly can onto his already impressive filmography. The Taxi Driver and Raging Bull scribe has long been considered one of the greatest screenwriters of his time, but his directorial work is often met with mixed reactions. His films […]

Sometimes, a movie comes along with all the right elements: a good story, a great crew, a talented director, a strong cast, etc. Sometimes that movie takes us by surprise, however, and is an overall letdown for reasons that aren’t easy to pinpoint. Despite everything it has going for it, the movie simply doesn’t work […]

In terms of its endlessly impressive artistry and technical achievements, Oppenheimer is a marvelous piece of work that often touches greatness and even, at times, reaches perfection. As a feature film experience in and of itself, however, its sky-high ambitions are often overwhelming and its intentions are sometimes unclear. Viewing the film is a frustratingly […]

Viewing Beau Is Afraid for the first time brings forth various, often conflicting, thoughts and emotions. It is a film, like those from such influential mind-bending masters as David Lynch and Charlie Kaufman, that is impossible to label as any one thing. It is a horror film, a dark comedy, an otherworldly adventure, an absurd […]

Based on true events, Sound of Freedom tells the story of Tim Ballard, a heroic government agent who resigned from his position so he could help release hundreds of children from sexual slavery. For dramatic purposes, the film’s story narrows down Ballard’s primary focus to the rescue of an enslaved young girl from Honduras who […]

For over four decades, the character of Indiana Jones has been one of cinema’s leading heroic adventurers. The archaeologist/professor portrayed by screen giant Harrison Ford has been through countless ordeals and quests that put him in a variety of perils that he always manages to survive at the very last moment after some highly suspenseful […]

A decade ago, filmmaker Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) began what came to be known as the DCEU (the DC Extended Universe) with his directorial take on the classic all-American comic book superhero, Superman. 2013’s Man of Steel is gritty and edgy and turns the previously wholly moralistic “Big Blue Boy Scout” character into something a […]

2022 was the year that the film industry truly started to flourish again after the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Massive blockbuster hits such as Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water brought audiences back to theaters in droves, while many smaller, quirkier films such as Everything Everywhere All at Once and The […]

There is no denying that James Cameron is one of cinema’s great boundary-pushers. This is evidenced by all the films he has directed over the years, which include The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, T2, True Lies, and Titanic. With each film, he has consistently taken the medium to its limits and made technological advancements that […]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a self-referential franchise that is far too reliant upon past works to fill in the dramatic and structural gaps of present ones. By and large, the MCU’s individual films and streaming series have become smaller pieces of a larger whole in which one big story is told that requires […]