Category: Reviews
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot vs. A Perfect Day
Do they still do “compare and contrast” assignments in school? Back in about 6th grade, I remember we would have to read two poems, or two essays, or watch two commercials and then write up a couple paragraphs on how they were alike and how they were different. These days, when the “theory” of writing…
Star Wars: Three Notes on Why The Force Awakens So Successfully
By now, anybody who cares is more than a little familiar with the concerns and expectations facing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Could Disney and J.J. Abrams create a film that obeyed the aesthetic, narrative and mythological sensibilities of the Star Wars series? Would this film overcome the awkward and unsatisfying nature of the prequels…
Reviewing Jeremy Sims’ “Last Cab to Darwin”
When I first saw Jeremy Sims’ Last Train to Freo (2006), a low-budget Australian thriller about four strangers travelling home in a single train carriage, I was struck by Sims’ ability to maintain an impressive amount of suspense throughout the film’s concise running time. But I was also a little underwhelmed by the characters in…
Down on the Street: London Road and the Music of Fear
It can’t be the easiest way to write. Go out, find people who’ve been through something bad, interview them and then spend months working the material into a script. In the case of London Road, it may have been worth it, as first a hit stage musical and then a movie came out of it.…
Casey Affleck’s I’m Still Here: Joaquin Phoenix and his celebrity-crazed, media-devouring public
You’re probably more up to date with showbiz news than I am. Your finger is probably more firmly on the pop pulse than mine and your flippage through celebrity gossip mags more frequent. If, by chance, you’ve never heard of the film I’m Still Here, I strongly recommend you stop reading now and hire it…