Screenwriter William Goldman famously said that, “Nobody knows anything,” when it comes to Hollywood. His quote has remained true for numerous reasons. For decades, the idea that a market existed for “faith based*” entertainment was mostly laughable. But two events in the entertainment field took place that proved audiences would come out big time for it. […]

Straight Outta Compton is really two movies stitched together. The first movie is intense, angry, joyful, and it’s about a group of friends trying to escape the madness of a racist society through art. There’s a couple of scenes in the beginning that encapsulates that perfectly. First, young Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) sits on a […]

  Pew Research performed a poll back in January of 2014 that’s simultaneously unsurprising and depressing. They found that the average American adult reads approximately 5 books in 1 year. For the most part, we live in a country that doesn’t truly value the written word, and hasn’t for quite some time. We say we […]

Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut, The Gift, isn’t just a Yuppies In Peril movie.* Not precisely. It’s got a number of the genre hallmarks. Conspicuous consumerism. A seemingly happy couple with secrets. A ridiculously cute pet that has caught the eye of a lunatic. But The Gift is something special. Not only is it a tightly plotted and well directed […]

There’s this theory I’ve had for a while now. I’ve shared it with friends, but now it’s time to share it with all of you. I believe that international superstar Tom Cruise is either a fiendishly clever performance artist, or a deeply depressed man. When he makes other films, he’s a talented and driven performer. But […]

He’s an old man-93 years old, to be precise. While a great deal of his life was spent amidst the bustle of London, that’s all behind him, like most things. He lives in a rambling old cottage near the sea in Sussex, and spends his days beekeeping. He is the World’s Greatest Detective, and he’s […]

Many people tend to be risk-averse when going to the movies. Sure, people say they want something new and daring, but when movies that are blazingly original, like Snowpiercer, or Memento, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are released, audiences tend to back away slowly, making the sign of the cross. I get it. Sometimes you want comfort food, […]

  Let’s pretend, for a moment, that I have access to a time machine. My current self, ancient and decrepit, travels back to the Good Old Days when I was a youthful firebrand who prepared to bestride the world like a colossus. Upon meeting, Old Me says to Young Me, “Couple of things to tell you […]

Addiction is a bitch. There’s a number of reasons why, genetic, emotional, psychological, the list goes on. For me, one of the cruelest aspects of addiction is the removal of potential. When we’re born, we’re blank slates. The possibility exists that we can go anywhere, do anything. But some of us have a self-destructive streak, […]

There’s one thing they never tell you about becoming an adult. Making friends is hard. When you become a parent? Making friends is really hard. Here’s an example. I work from home, so it falls upon me to handle school pickup for my kid. I’m one of the lone fathers to collect my kid at the end […]