Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 9: “Rock and Roll Queen” Written by Debora Cahn Directed by Carl Franklin Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Ever since Richie lost all the money gained from selling American Century’s private jet, a shoe has been hanging over the show. Zach is Richie’s most loyal lieutenant, and one who’s really more of …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 5: “He in Racist Fire” Written by Adam Rapp Directed by Peter Sollett Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO The revelation from last week’s episode of Vinyl was that the show can be hilarious when it wants to be. It was a necessary discovery, because Vinyl would eventually implode if it chose to …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 4: “The Racket” Written by Debora Cahn Directed by S. J. Clarkson Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Perhaps Vinyl has regained its footing. The first three episodes of the series were filled with drama – Richie falling off the wagon, murdering Buck Rogers, and threatening his already shaky marriage. The episodes were …
Richie takes a backseat in an episode that introduces a particularly sedate real-life rock star.
A more streamlined second episode still has some kinks to work out.
Vinyl, Season One, Episode One: “Pilot” Written by Terence Winter and George Mastras Directed by Martin Scorsese Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO It seemed inevitable that Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger would work together at some point. After all, The Rolling Stones have created the essential music of Scorsese’s life, and his films would …
From the opening credits sequence, Love the Coopers feels like classic studio holiday schmaltz. Santa Clauses ride around town, dogs dressed in Hanukkah and Christmas garb embrace, and families take pictures for greeting cards. The Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” scores the montage, completing an idyllic portrait of dull but harmless seasonal cheer.
It looks like that new Daft Punk album won’t be happening. Bummer. The Hollywood Reporter broke on Friday that Disney would not be moving forward with a sequel to 201o’s Tron Legacy. The sequel was supposed to begin filming this fall in Vancouver, but it seems like the Mouse House isn’t too keen on diving …
Don’t ever say that Disney doesn’t like getting more green. It seems like the House of Mouse will actually be moving forward with a sequel to 2010’s Tron Legacy, according to a report by Badass Digest on Tuesday. The film starred Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Jeff Bridges and was a continuation of the original …
It’s easy to be disillusioned by bland, scare-free horror films like The Lazarus Effect. Of course, not every horror film makes Ouija look like The Exorcist, but perhaps we can use this as a learning exercise. Rather than cursing the darkness, let’s light a little candle and look at “Three Things We Can Learn from The Lazarus Effect.”
Better Living Through Chemistry flirts with danger from its opening moments, in which a narrator first says that while each of us can’t help everyone, everyone can help someone, and follows it up by saying that our lead character would dismiss that sentiment as fortune-cookie foolishness. That character, portrayed by Sam Rockwell, who grows more Sam Rockwell-esque by the minute here, would be right to do so, but the film he occupies essentially embraces that sentiment, if to a slightly amoral extent. Better Living Through Chemistry is, seemingly, a bit desperate to both occupy the same satiric subgenre as American Beauty and to be so emphatically unique among other American Beauty-esque films that it’s unable to fully achieve either goal in the end.
Her Written and directed by Spike Jonze USA, 2013 It is nearly impossible to describe the feeling that sets in almost instantly while watching Her, the newest directorial effort from the experimental Spike Jonze. Though the opening shots, like those which follow, are stitched together carefully, crisply, and beautifully, it’s not simply a blend of …
I spoke with Joe Swanberg about performance and beer at a Philadelphia sneak peek of his new film Drinking Buddies, starring Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston. Neal Dhand: I really love the performances in this film. They’re so real and believable. Joe Swanberg: I’ve always been into performance. With everything I’ve …
Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies is a prime example of how a cast can save a movie from drifting into obscurity once the end credits roll. Good chemistry between actors is essential to making a film enjoyable; luckily for Drinking Buddies, the cast is exactly what turns the film into a minor success. The four principal stars are supremely likable and are given the chance to show off their improvisation skills throughout.
Fiction always has a habit of overlapping, whether intentionally or not, since storytelling is built on only a few choice templates. Your plot can include three headed aliens in an intergalactic pissing contest with ghost humans, or simply be a gritty fable about the perils of alcoholism and social stigma, it doesn’t matter. The plot …
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Written by Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley Directed by Don Scardino USA, 2013 A high concept comedy of the kind Will Ferrell has most been associated with in the last decade, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone assembles an appealing cast for its familiar story and character beats, here applied to …
Luke is in a serious, committed relationship with the mild mannered Jane (Anna Kendrick), while Kate is in a relationship with straight laced music producer Chris (Ron Livingston).
The Words Directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal Written by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal USA, 2012 The effect of watching The Words is akin to hearing someone read a book report that’s based off the CliffsNotes of the CliffNotes of a popular book. The sheer laziness on display in this would-be character study/thriller …
Tron: Legacy (2010) Directed by Joseph Kosinkski Indebted to the 1982 film for its staggering aesthetic, it has been a long time since a mainstream Hollywood release has been as visually dynamic. Avatar’s humoid creatures and pastel coloured flower world cannot even begin to compete with the stark modernism of the monochromic Tron design. Further …