I hate to criticize movies. That may seem like an odd statement coming from someone who writes a blog built on film criticism, but it stems from personal experience. I spent a few years in my mid-twenties making independent films. On one of them, I was the writer, director, editor, producer, and lead actor. In…
Instead of a traditional fall movie preview, I have identified four movies that will appeal to Republicans and five that will appeal to Democrats. Here are those five movies: Branded (September 7) With echoes of “The Matrix,” “Branded” paints a portrait of a dystopian society (we’ve seen a lot of those this year) in which…
Every fall, major studios and independent films alike trot out their prestige pictures. Even though the Academy Awards have undergone a series of rules changes to be more friendly towards blockbusters, the fall season is still traditionally reserved for serious movies that may very well be in the running for Oscar consideration. Naturally, it a…
With “Red Hook Summer,” it is clear that Spike Lee is back. Back in Brooklyn, back in the sweltering summer heat, back with stories about black America that no one else is telling. “Red Hook Summer” is not a perfect film, not by any means. But it does what we used to expect a Spike…
For the last 10 weeks, I have sat down to prepare to watch “The Newsroom” at 9:55 pm. Each time, I have caught the last few minutes of “True Blood.” I have never seen a full episode of “True Blood,” and I don’t know a soul who watches it on a regular basis. But for…
“It is the blight man was born for. It is Margaret that you mourn for.” – from “Margaret, Are You Grieving,” a poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins “Margaret,” the sophomore effort from writer-director Kenneth Lonergan, is a film about New York, a city with 8 million stories. So it is only fitting that “Margaret” arrived…
I was really beginning to worry. Tonight’s episode – the conclusion of the two-part “Blackout” episode – started out exhibiting the same problems evident last week. It was far more about the characters – none of whom I have really grown to like that much – than the issues. The Brian Brenner reporter character was…
There is a good movie somewhere inside of “Why Stop Now,” which opens today in select theaters, but it suffers from tonal inconsistencies and a series of implausible plot points that make it impossible to suspend one’s disbelief. To put it succinctly, it suffers from common failures of first-time filmmakers. Let’s start with the opening…
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