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‘Looking’ Better: “Looking For The Future”
Okay, here we go. We’re now officially more than halfway through Looking‘s first season, and we’ve finally gotten the series’ first pretty great episode. Sure, Looking‘s detractors can still complain...
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‘Looking’ For A Boyfriend: “Looking In The Mirror”
Last week’s “Looking For The Future” was the first time in Looking‘s still-brief run that the show actually took a narrative and creative risk, allowing a single date between Patrick and Richie to...
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‘Looking’ For Commitment: “Looking For A Plus One”
There’s only one episode left in Looking‘s first season, and unless they really fuck it up (which is entirely possible), it will go down as a lop-sided debut, with the first four episodes getting off...
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‘Looking’ For Friends: “Looking Glass”
And so we’ve come to the end. Of Season One, anyway. And it’s time to think about what we’ve been Looking at all this while. Looking began with a would-be hookup in broad daylight in a public park. It...
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Character Ark: ‘Noah’ Writes The Book On Savvy Spectacle
Have you heard the Good News? One of the most innovative filmmakers of this millennium has released an epic blockbuster that caters heavily to a Christian audience — and it’s actually pretty decent....
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The Two Jakes: Bugs, Blondes & Blueberries Are The ‘Enemy’
In cinema, there are twist endings… and then there are endings that are so twisted, so gnarled, so completely screwed up they leave you sitting in the theater with your mouth hanging open puzzling over...
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The Five Best Fucking Songs Right Now* (Volume 4)
* based on absolutely no criteria whatsoever It’s almost summer again (here in Los Angeles, anyway — the rest of you may have another month or two before it’s good and sunny out). And that means it’s...
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Riding In Cars With Boys: Scarlett Sheds Clothes &‘Skin’
The people of Scotland need a refresher on “stranger danger,” at least according to the events depicted in Under The Skin. The lesson: even if someone looks as comely as Scarlett Johansson, that does...
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OMGzilla: The Latest Lizard Epic Has That ‘Jurassic’ Spark
Summer movie season is officially underway, everybody, and you know what that means: I’ll be writing weekly reviews of each and every blockbuster that Hollywood throws our way. Just kidding! What am I,...
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Certifiable Copy: A ‘Double’ Dose Of Deranged Doppelgangers
Antz and A Bug’s Life. Deep Impact and Armageddon. Infamous and Capote. Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down. It happens all the time — movies with eerily similar subject matter doubling up in the...
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The Best Revenge: ‘Blue Ruin,’‘Grand Piano,’&‘Neighbors’
Here’s the sad fact: the more $200 million blockbusters make their money back, the less we see studios willing to spend $20 million, or $10 million, or even a lousy $1 million on a smarter movie...
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Doppelgangland: ‘Coherence’ Doubles Down On Disorientation
They say there are no small parts, only small actors. So I guess it’s also true that there are no small movies, only small budgets. Coherence is a movie that plays with some very big ideas — so big...
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Dying On The ‘Edge’: All You Need Is Cruise
I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but in 2014, the summer blockbusters are actually good. All of them? No. Let me start over. Most of the summer blockbusters this year have been pretty good,...
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Roger & Us: The Critic Becomes The Star In ‘Life Itself’
The story of Roger Ebert is a curious one. The man didn’t set out to be a film critic, but he ended up being the film critic. He’s still best known as the owner of one of two fateful thumbs from his...
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Boy’s Life: Adolescence Unfolds Before Our Eyes In ‘Boyhood’
Movies entertain in different ways. Many are meant as mere diversions; some aim to bemuse, fewer aim to bewitch. One typically considers independent films less ambitious than their studio-made...
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Pain, Trains & Automobiles: ‘The Rover’&‘Snowpiercer’
You know what I hate about myself? I know what people taste like. I know that babies taste best. That’s not a confession. It’s one of the most memorable lines in Bong Joon-Ho’s new film Snowpiercer —...
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‘Galaxy’ Jest: Marvel Trades Amazement For Amusement
A few years back, Joss Whedon surprised us by releasing a superhero movie that satisfied all the mega-blockbuster mega-requirements and still found room for a little of the Buffy creator’s trademark...
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On Poor Taste: A Cinephile Grapples With Lowbrow Likes
(A version of the following first appeared in INsite Boston in 2005. Please forgive the dated references. The overall content is still relevant!) There’s a golden rule in courtship that says, “Never...
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Boo, Hiss!: A B-Movie Slithers Into Hollywood’s Mile-High Club
(Flashback Friday: This month marks the eight-year anniversary of this slithery thriller. So here’s a look back at a curious moment in film history; an examination of movies of the “so bad it’s good”...
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City Of Angles: L.A. Gets Its Closeup In ‘Los Angeles Plays Itself’
This week, I had a chance to check out Los Angeles Plays Itself, a docu-essay by Thom Andersen that chronicles how L.A. is represented in the movies — not only the ones that take place there, but also...
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