I like it when something cool comes from something damaged and terrible. For example, the DC Extended Universe. Initially, they were not off to a great start. They had a Superman who was mopey, grumpy, and seemed to save people not because he was compelled to help, but because he was afraid of being written up by his manager. They had a Batman who was not so much obsessed with punishing crime as he was having a psychotic break.* They also had a Harley Quinn trapped in a movie that didn’t deserve her. Perhaps you recall 2016’s Suicide Squad. It was a damn good concept for a movie, with the idea... Read More

Some movies only require a script, actors, and a camera. A good and tragically underseen example of this is 2018’s The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, a thriller following an ex-cop investigating a police funeral and his suspicion that the shooter belongs to the same militia he does. It’s a great film that had an estimated budget of $450,000. Costs were kept low by keeping the locations modest. It also helped that the vast majority of scenes were essentially guys talking to each other in rooms. It’s a great film due to smart writing, efficient direction, and strong acting. Does the fact that it... Read More

Most of us approach the summer movie season with a kind of resigned dread. We’re confronted with a vast wasteland of sequels, remakes, terrible comedies and cheap horror movies. It can feel like you’re getting punched in the face by CGI, or walloped by an obnoxiously loud kid’s movie. Worst of all is the feeling of, “Oh, dear God, not this again.” It can seem like the summer is where creativity goes to die, where art is thrown into a cell and left to rot. Yet as much as we complain that movies are more terrible than ever, there’s always something original... Read More

All you really need to know about 10 Cloverfield Lane is that it’s an efficient and intelligent thriller. It works best if you just go into the theater cold. In fact, you should stop reading my review immediately, trust me, and go see it. Still here? If you’re hoping for a spoiler-riffic review, sorry, Sparky, it ain’t gonna happen. However, we can go into detail without going into detail. Let’s clear up a couple of things first. You can be forgiven for wondering if this film is a sequel to 2008’s Cloverfield. To refresh your memory, that was the J.J. Abrams-produced... Read More