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One Man’s Trash: The Vault

Adam Tyner — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 13:00:01 +0000

Whatever you’re doing right now, stop! There’s a James Franco movie on Netflix about a haunted bank vault! Okay, okay, maybe that’s not in quite the same league as The Toybox, which pits Denise Richards and Mischa Barton against a haunted RV. Still, “bank heist interrupted by bloodthirsty ghosts” has to rank among the ten...

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The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Review: How the West Was Weird

Jason Gorber — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 18:00:51 +0000

The Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is simultaneously an odd addition to their oeuvre and yet perfectly in keeping with their wild, acerbic tone. The film was birthed as a television anthology of Western tales, a pulpy collection of short stories tied together by little more than the dusty setting. From there, it...

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The 2018 Spirit and Razzie Awards

Josh Zyber — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 13:00:45 +0000

After four consecutive years of simply mirroring the Oscars’ Best Picture pick, the Independent Spirit Awards actually attempted to follow their mission this year and rewarded a different movie that Oscar passed over. Meanwhile, the Razzies are still a thing that happens for some reason. Spirit Awards Jordan Peele and ‘Get Out’ were the big...

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2018 Oscar Nominations

Josh Zyber — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 18:00:19 +0000

Hollywood is in such a shambles these days that it’s almost a surprise the Academy Awards are going through with an Oscars ceremony this year at all. Nevertheless, tradition must be upheld and too much money is on the line. Actors Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish presented the latest round of nominations this morning. Desperate...

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2018 Golden Globe Winners

Josh Zyber — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 06:00:11 +0000

The Golden Globe Awards traditionally have a reputation as the biggest party in Hollywood, where celebrities often get sloppy drunk and everybody has a fun time. Coming off the turmoil of the past year, however, it’s little surprise that pretty much no one in the entertainment industry felt comfortable letting loose this time. The somber...

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The Best of the Best in Film 2017, Part 1

Philip Brown — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 16:00:08 +0000

Well, folks, we did it. 2017 is over. We survived. It wasn’t easy. At times, it felt like nothing but horrible things happened for a solid 12 months. Heroes died, scandals rocked the entertainment community, American politics turned into Reality TV, the Cold War got a sequel. Damn, it was tough. Well, except for one...

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‘The Disaster Artist’ Review: Best of the Worst

Philip Brown — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:00:19 +0000

Writer/director/star/entrepreneur/belt enthusiast Tommy Wiseau and his magnum opus of ineptitude known as ‘The Room’ have been a peculiar cultural fascination over the last decade. A movie about them was inevitable. Rather than a sneering documentary, director/star James Franco made a comedic Oscar season bio-pic that positions Wiseau as an outsider artist and sympathetic lost soul....

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TIFF Journal: ‘The Disaster Artist’

Philip Brown — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 17:00:40 +0000

Is it possible to spin the worst movie ever made into a good bio-pic? Can walking enigma/punchline Tommy Wiseau be turned into an inspirational figure? Apparently, if you’re James Franco, the answer to both questions is “Hells Ya.” It’s hard to imagine many other people would have dared to try. Even though the ever-ambitious Franco...

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‘The Deuce’ Pilot Recap: “Not Everybody Gets to Be Successful”

Josh Zyber — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 12:00:57 +0000

With their new HBO drama ‘The Deuce’, creators David Simon and George Pelecanos apply the same meticulous attention to detail and local atmosphere to the 1970s porn industry that they brought to ‘The Wire’ and ‘Treme’. This may be the most promising new show of the year. Set in 1971 and based in New York...

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‘Why Him?’ Review: Charming Bickering

Philip Brown — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 17:00:24 +0000

‘Why Him?’ isn’t exactly the most creative comedy to come along in a while. In-laws feuding with young lovers is a comedy cliché that dates back to around the time someone first noticed slipping on a banana peel had laugh potential. However, as far as big lumbering studio comedies go, you could do far worse...

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‘Angie Tribeca’ Premiere Recap: “Sticks and Stones… And Puppy Dog Tails”

Josh Zyber — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 14:00:36 +0000

Taking a cue from Netflix, the TBS network premiered the entire first season of its new comedy ‘Angie Tribeca’ all at once on Sunday night in what was advertised as a 25-hour, commercial free “Binge-a-thon.” How a basic cable network could possibly make money from such an event is a mystery even our detective heroine...

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‘Every Thing Will Be Fine’ Review: No, It Won’t

Philip Brown — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 15:00:26 +0000

If nothing else, Wim Wenders deserves credit for his experimentations in contradiction at the center of ‘Every Thing Will Be Fine’. The film is an attempt to make a subdued melodrama. That’s tough enough to pull off (just ask Atom Egoyan 90% of the time). However, on top of that nearly insurmountable challenge, Wenders also...

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