— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI — The novel “Veronika Decides to Die” can best be described as a modern-day “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” — its darker take on mental illness reflects on the times where clinical depression is on the rise for many[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Under Review: ‘Invictus’
— by ALEXA MILAN — Any time the names Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman are attached to a movie, more often than not some sort of Oscar buzz will emerge from it. “Invictus” is no exception, even if the story is unusually optimistic for an Eastwood film. “Invictus”[...]
Under Review: ‘The Legacy’
— by SEAN GERSKI — Imagine if you woke up one day and discovered your father was a retired superhero. And not just any superhero, but Kryptoman! (Think: Superman) Writer-director Mike Doto has taken that concept and crafted 12 of the most majestic and enchanting minutes you are likely to[...]
Under Review: ‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’
— by BEV QUESTAD — Throughout the world and throughout time, women have been victimized by renegade soldiers driven by powerlessness and dehumanization. For possibly the first time in the history of the African continent, if not the world, a group of women of different faiths and[...]
Under Review: ‘Brief Encounters With Hideous Men’
— by BEV QUESTAD — Say it ain’t so Tiger! Dave Letterman, John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton, and even our ancient hero Odysseus … infidelity and adultery are chronic age-old temptations of the susceptible ego. Sara Quinn, played by Julianne Nicholson, is a graduate st[...]
Under Review: ‘Brothers’
— by ALEXA MILAN — If you’ve seen the trailers for the ensemble drama “Brothers,” you probably think it’s just another tired, melodramatic love triangle story. But this movie is the perfect example of why you shouldn’t always judge a film by its trailer[...]
Under Review: ‘Armored’
— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI — Imagine this scenario: You desperately need money and your co-worker at the armored truck company offers you the chance to steal a truck that contains $42 million. On top of that, child-welfare services wants to take your brother out of your guardianship[...]
Under Review: ‘The Road’
— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI — Upon seeing “The Road,” I’ve stockpiled as much Coca Cola as I could get my hands on. Why such an endeavor? It’s because John Hillcoat’s sophomore film showed me that even when you can’t trust the sanity of your fellow man, you[...]
Under Review: ‘Antichrist’
— by JASON EAKEN — “Nature is Satan’s Church” — tagline from the film. It is a firmly held belief of mine that I would rather see a well-made movie I disagree with than a poorly made film that plays it safe. In some cosmic or telepathic way, Lars von Trier has[...]
Under Review: ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire’
— by ALEXA MILAN — Every year when awards season rolls around, a little-movie-that-could seems to emerge. Last year it was “Slumdog Millionaire,” which barely anyone had heard of before it rose out of the Toronto International Film Festival to become the year’s best picture winner.[...]
Under Review: ‘Me and Orson Welles’
— by JASON EAKEN — Zac Efron and Orson Welles: if ever there was a more unlikely combination, for the life of me I cannot conjure it. Yet here they are in Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” a film whose sentimentally simplistic title indicates its own merits and demerits[...]
Under Review: ‘Ninja Assassin’
— by SEAN GERSKI — I suspect that there is a very good chance you will walk out of “Ninja Assassin” having watched the very movie you expected to see. If you are hoping to see a blood-and-guts, all-out ninja brawl that looks cool — well, this is that movie. However, if [...]
Under Review: ‘Broken Embraces’
— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI — We’ve all heard about drama going on during the filming of the latest Hollywood hit. Anything from slurs being thrown about to fists flying, but no cast experienced the drama that the fictional film’s “Girls and Suitcases” cannot match. Be[...]