Road to Ruin – “Cosmopolis” Review

David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis plays less like a dramatic thriller and more like a 108-minute long panel lecture on the decline of Western capitalism. Led by Robert Pattinson’s stoic evocation of a post-Botox James Dean, the film offers a cold, calculated reflection of the cold and calculating. Unfortunately, much like the subject, I found the film frigid and uninviting–too, too solid.

Game of Polls – “The Ides of March” Review

With debates heating up and the presidential election a year away, George Clooney releases his indictment of the political machine. The Ides of March has a lot to say about current politics, mostly about campaigns, but the film is a piece of entertainment first, acting as a tense dialogue-driven thriller. There is a temptation to dismiss the film based on perceived biases, and I’m sure there are a few more liberal ideas presented than not. However, the movie does show both sides of the coin and eventually reveals what many characters from the HBO program The Wire know all too well, “the game is rigged.”

Opening Weekend: Win, Lose or Law

This weekend two-thirds of the team behind Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz have a close encounter of the third kind with a like-minded slacker from the stars. Bradley Cooper shows us both the benefits and side-effects of taking a drug to unlock all your minds potential (I’m pretty sure side effects include: permanent 5 o’clock shadow, perfect hair, and Spike Lee Joints). Also, Matthew McConaughey and Laurence Mason star in a re-imagining of Driving Miss Daisy . . . Driving Mr. McConaughey . . . at least that’s what I gathered from the trailer. McConaughey hangs out in the back of a vintage Lincoln . . . and he’s a lawyer . . . and no, he’s not lobbying to legalize marijuana, but I am pretty sure they do make a stop at the Piggly Wiggly. And Paul Giamatti shows us that Charlie Sheen isn’t the only one who’s winning, duh.

Oscar Checklist – Part 6: Maybe They’re Born With It

We’ve come to the rare category that I hadn’t seen anything from, Best Make-up. The reason for this is two-fold, 2/3 of the nominees weren’t in wide release ’til recently, and one is a widely panned blockbuster from last January (when I was busy catching up on last years nominees).

My Favorite Films of the Last Decade #15

Real Harvey: OK. This guy here, he’s our man, all grown up and going nowhere. Although he’s a pretty scholarly cat, he never got much of a formal education. For the most part, he’s lived in shit neighborhoods, held shit jobs, and he’s now knee-deep into a disastrous second marriage. So, if you’re the kind of person looking for romance or escapism or some fantasy figure to save the day… guess what? You’ve got the wrong movie.