Django, The Spaghetti Western
As with all things Quentin Tarantino, his new movie Django Unchained is inspired in some vague way by another movie, in this case the classic Italian spaghetti western Django […]
Mind Control Double Feature #22: There’s No Place Like Home
Ah, the holidays! This time of year, our thoughts turn to home, travel, and rural meth heads. Or family. Whatever. Tomato, tomahto. This week’s brain-boggling Mind Control Double Feature pairs two films that […]
The Hobbit vs Tintin: Which Will Get the Gold?
You are, naturally, confused. You are going to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey expecting to see something akin to The Lord of the Rings films. Think again. While there are connections […]
Scorsese’s Mean Streets
After film school, Martin Scorsese spent four years making his first feature, Who’s That Knocking At My Door? (’67), starring the then unknown Harvey Keitel. It didn’t make a splash. […]
Smurfs 2 Is Coming, I.e. Smurfette Becomes A Nymphomaniac
If you thought Hollywood could sink no lower into the filth in which it resides, you’ve got another think coming. Watch this preview for the so-called “children’s movie” Smurfs 2 […]
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Disaster
The Hobbit, as presented at 48fps* (i.e. high frame rate, HFR), marks the death of cinema. At least digital projection, depressing as it is, is being improved to the point […]
They Call Me Mr. Hobbitterness
Let’s accentuate the positive, shall we? That moment—the one in the trailer for The Hobbit—where all the dwarves start singing their sorrowful song? That’s pretty good. There’s a funny bit […]
Wake in Fright: The Nature of Man
To dream of the devil and wake in a fright.
-Old English curse
The Spy Who Bored Me
Are you kidding me? This is supposed to be Roger Moore’s best outing as James Bond? The Spy Who Loved Me (’77) is not anyone’s best outing as anything. To […]
Mind Control Double Feature #21: Aliens Watching Television
Since its invention, television has been hypnotizing all humans careless enough to glance toward its gaping maw of doom. It takes a strong will to look away from the pretty […]
The 10 Best Biopics with Bite
Let me tell you the story of my life. I experienced a single traumatic/inspirational childhood event that—without my knowledge—shaped my entire existence. I struggled to find my own particular brand of […]
Samsara, Baraka, Etcetera
There are shots in Samsara (’12) of places you can’t believe exist on Earth, like the stone temples in the jungles of Myanmar that look like a CGI landscape from […]
I’ll Be Damme’d
Friday night was the monthly Midnites for Maniacs screening. In case you aren’t lucky enough to live in San Francisco, or if you live here but are just too foolish […]
Killing Them Softly, but not Subtly
Is it possible for a film to be obtuse and heavy-handed simultaneously? Hold that thought. Let’s consider. I just came back from Andrew Dominik‘s third feature, Killing Them Softly, starring Brad […]