Happy Thoughts: My May 2012 @WarnerArchive Order.

    At the last minute, I hopped on this limited-time-only sale from the great Warner Archive service, which makes older movies available to order.  It’s a great, fun way to catch up on (or discover) titles which fall outside of the quote-unquote canon.  I’ve got a growing stack of Warner Archive titles, and that [...]

Movies Of The Near Future: LAWLESS.

Wettest County was on my list of 50 most eagerly-awaited movies of the year.  It’s not called that anymore, though.  Now it’s going by the handle Lawless, a much more generic title which sounds a little cooler after knowing it was generously bestowed upon the movie by none other than Terrence Malick.  Whatever it’s called, it’s [...]

Rating THE EXPENDABLES According To Their Individual & Current Awesomeness.

So the publicity for The Expendables 2 is ramping up.  I’ve been seeing a new mini-trailer in front of movies at the theater recently, which we should talk about.  For one thing, am I the only person who thinks it looks like they majorly skimped on the cinematography budget?  Seriously, dude. Expendables 2 was shot [...]

Screening in NYC: 48 HRS. (1982).

48 Hrs. is the midnight movie this weekend at IFC Center in New York City.  This movie is important for what it represents in the continuum of American action movies, and surprising as a viewing experience if that first point is all you know about it. Directed by essential action auteur Walter Hill and starring [...]

Screening in NYC: ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976).

Assault On Precinct 13 is screening this weekend as the IFC Center’s midnight movie.  It’s a stone-cold must-see if you’ve never had the pleasure, and a terrific choice to watch in the middle of the night, its most natural habitat. With respect to fans of Dark Star, Carpenter’s first major credit as director, Assault On Precinct [...]

From The Archives: PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009).

Today is Michael Mann’s birthday.  I celebrate by re-watching (and re-posting) my initial thoughts about his most recent, and apparently most controversial, feature film.  The following is what I wrote about Public Enemies on July 3rd, 2009.  Public Enemies, I still maintain, has plenty to recommend it, but its unconventionality makes it a point of debate.  [...]

Cult Classics: BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986).

Today we celebrate a great American.  Oh totally, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but also: John Carpenter, one of my very favorite filmmakers of all time.  Here’s something I wrote on February 11th, 2009:  I recently received in the mail the limited edition 2-disc score album for John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China.  It’s a [...]

From The Archives: AVATAR (2009).

  Been thinking about the 3-D format lately, due to Hugo.  Seems a good reason to review some thoughts from two years back.  Avatar is like nothing you’ve ever seen before, even though you’ve absolutely seen this story many times before.  Is that a coy contradiction?  Is it a negative statement?  I hope not.  I [...]

31 FLAVORS OF HORROR #7: CHAW (2009) v. PIG HUNT (2009).

  Movies about giant killer pigs are not a common occurrence, but every continent seems to have one.  The best-known feature in the genre is probably 1984′s Razorback, an Australian movie from the director of Highlander.  I haven’t seen that one recently enough to confidently write about it, and I’m not sure I can do better [...]

Please Watch: MEN IN WAR (1957).

  Men In War is a 1957 film directed by Anthony Mann, from a script by Philip Yordan which was adapted from a novel by someone named Van Van Praag (awesome).  Even though the majority of movies of the era were being shot in Technicolor, Men In War is in black and white.  I wonder if that [...]