Inherent Vice Review
RATING: (4 STARS) A stoner private dick, his manipulative ex-old-lady, her millionaire land developer lover, his scheming wife, her ripped kept man. A recovering dope fiend single mother, her missing snitch boyfriend, a black panther, a gang of Nazis, an maniacal actor cop, a maritime lawyer, a pot-smoking assistant DA, nose-picking FBI agents, and a […]
2015 Golden Globes Nominations Predictions
The ultra-prestigious and never ridiculous Hollywood Foreign Press Association is on the cusp of announcing its nominees for the 2015 Golden Globes. We should take these nominations very seriously, as the many, many dedicated and serious-minded members of this fine organization consider only the artistic merits of each film, performance, and craft achievement in a […]
The 5 Best Leading Male Performances of 2013
I have way too many fragments of a Best Performances of 2013 list to not write something up. The idea to break apart the list by, for lack of a better term, Oscar category was born out of the desire to highlight some stellar supporting work, which sometimes gets ignored when talking about the very […]
Predicting the 2014 Golden Globes Winners
This Sunday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will carve for itself a unique place in the 2013/2014 awards season. How do I know? Because it must. There still isn’t much consensus among this year’s major categories. The critics groups like 12 Years a Slave and Her. American Hustle and Gravity have loads of support—some from […]
The 2013 Oscar Nominees
It wasn’t Lincoln‘s field-topping twelve nominations nor Silver Linings Playbook‘s sudden ascension from “happy to be nominated” to “genuine Best Picture threat” that dominated headlines today. 

No, it was the genuinely stunning absence of Argo‘s Ben Affleck and Zero Dark Thirty‘s Kathryn Bigelow from the Academy’s eclectic Best Director lineup that rocked Oscar watchers’ world. […]
On the Oscar Bubble
The bubble is not a fun place to live. Just ask Virginia Tech basketball fans. I’m sure every actor or actress would love to be in the position of a Daniel Day-Lewis or Jessica Chastain this year, but the Oscars just don’t work like that. Someone has to be the last nominee in just as […]
The Master Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The Master is a story about control, passion, repression, losing oneself, finding oneself, and yes, a cult. But above all, it is the story of a man, a hopelessly inquisitive man, just like you will be by the end of Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling puzzle of a film. While he coaxes two […]
I’m Still Here Review
RATING: (0 STARS) I don’t even know where to begin reviewing a film as vile and pointless as I’m Still Here, the “documentary†that follows actor Joaquin Phoenix’s “retirement†from acting and the beginning stages of his hip-hop “career.†I could decry it for its whiny star and his Jackass-lite antics. I could bitch about […]
Gladiator Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) I don’t think the hate heaped on “Gladiator†for winning Best Picture is fair. Was it the best film of 2000? Absolutely not (the best film of the year was Requiem for a Dream, while the best nominated film was probably “Traffic). I think “Gladiator†is everything it should be—entertaining, exhilarating, and […]
Two Lovers Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Love isn’t easy, despite the tendency for films to make it seem that way. Movies like “The Proposal†present falling in love as this series of hyjinks. The only difficulties are related to the just kooky situations the two subjects find themselves in. Occasionally, a film, such as “(500) Days of Summer,†[…]
