Emancipated – “Lincoln” Review

With Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis has topped himself again. It seems unfair that he is this good. Day-Lewis encompasses the role of the revered 16th President of the United States in every conceivable way. It is a performance certain to be discussed for a long time. The movie is pretty great too.

The Trouble with Quibbles: Looper

Writer/director Rian Johnson’s Looper has one of the most interesting and intelligent sci-fi premises to grace the big screen in a long while. In the future, once time travel has been invented and summarily outlawed, it will be used by the mob to send targets 30 years into the past to be disposed of by hitmen called “loopers.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a young looper named Joe, who seems to be on the up and up, until the new boss in the future decides to “close his loop” by sending him his last target: his future self, played by Bruce Willis. But, does the film live up to its great premise? Spoiler alert: Bryan and I disagree. Seriously though, we may tip-toe into SPOILER country.

2012 Fall Preview: 25 Films I Can’t Wait to See #5-1

This is what I call the super obvious section.

Rebooting Batman – Hypothetical Casting

There are going to be more Batman films; that’s a given. While it seems weird bringing up the subject so soon after the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s stunning trilogy, in a year, maybe two, audiences are going to be hankering for some serious Bat-action. If the release of The Amazing Spider-Man and next year’s Man of Steel tell us anything, it’s that the masses don’t care about reboots. They want superheroes on-screen as long as filmmakers can offer the goods. But, where do we go from here? The answer: anywhere.

The Trouble with Quibbles: The Dark Knight Rises – Part 2

The quibbling continues as Bryan and I discuss our feelings about The Dark Knight Rises. If you haven’t already, be sure to read part 1 of this Quibble.

The Trouble with Quibbles: The Dark Knight Rises – Part 1

I’ve been wrestling with the anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises on an ever-increasing level over the last few years. Until a few weeks ago, it was a gradual thing, nothing too grand, but then we got to July and with the film only weeks away, I kinda lost it. I went batty. Prepping for Shooting the Script’s Batman coverage only exacerbated things. I gave in and have been on a Bat-binge for the last three weeks. This exponential increase in eagerness to see the film combined with the events surrounding the release of The Dark Knight Rises has been overwhelming. When I finally saw the film it was less like entertainment and more like treatment… like getting my fix… like something I had to do… like a release… of all this pent up eagerness mixed with anxiety. It was a very bizarre movie-going experience. It’s strange how ridiculous the simple act of going to see a movie became. It’s only a movie. Still, something about Christopher Nolan’s trilogy–and Batman in general–has given us a lot to talk about.

Bryan’s Top Ten Movies of 2011

As is becoming tradition, I don’t complete my top ten list until a few months into the new year. This is mostly because I’m trying to see everything I missed. This list is late for that reason of course, but also because I was having my friends at Outpost Media put together a video companion (which I think came out looking sweet, many thanks to them). I thought it might be fun. So watch the video, then read on for more context or read first then watch or whatever you feel like doing. Just enjoy.

Fallout Boy – “50/50″ Review

Cancer is such a serious subject that creating a whole movie around the disease can be fraught with peril. Such an endeavor can easily succumb to cloying theatrics or high-minded nonsense or some other horrible cliché. So, it is with great joy that I tell you 50/50 avoids all that. Director Jonathan Levine has crafted a smart and funny film that walks a very precarious tightrope.

Opening Weekend: Chance

Anna Faris takes a chance on her exes. Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz take a chance on their dream house. Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine take their chances against evil. There’s a chance Michael Shannon is losing his mind. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a 50/50 chance to beat cancer. And there isn’t much chance of me ever seeing Bunraku, Margaret, or Courageous.

Fall Preview: 10 That Got Away

I know Bryan is curious about what movies I’m looking forward to, specifically which of his 25 picks I agree with. Maybe you are too. So, I figured I’d make a little list of my own. Here’s a shocker: we disagree about something. One of my major points of contention with his list: Fall doesn’t include December.

The Trouble with Quibbles: Inception

I must preface this quibble with two warnings: 1) This film is far too dense to truly quibble about in one go, so I’m sure there are things we’ve left out, gleaned over, or touched on far too briefly, which might lead to the first multi-part quibble. We’ll see. 2) There be yon spoilers, but not for a bit. So, even if you haven’t seen Inception, you can read on, to a point. I’ll warn you again when we get to spoiler territory. Seriously though, you should go see this film… a sci-fi thriller from the acclaimed director of The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Memento… what more do you need?

With Inception, Christopher Nolan offers a cinematic breath of fresh air in a summer blockbuster season chock full o’ watered-down remakes, superfluous video games adaptations, bedazzled vampires, and formulaic tent-pole franchises. Nolan’s mind-bending thriller is a wonderfully original blend of action and intrigue. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team of dream extractors, composed of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, and Dileep Rao, are presented with an even more challenging task than their typical dream extraction, planting an idea deep enough within a subjects subconscious that it redefines them.