REVIEW: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [2010]
“You punched the highlights out of her hair” Some might say a tagline such as “An epic of epic epicness” is a tad too much. I might have even said that two hours ago, but alas, I saw the finished...
View ArticleREVIEW: Greenberg [2010]
“Can a pool overflow?” There is a saying relayed by Greta Gerwig’s character Florence which perfectly encapsulates what happens during the course of Noah Baumbach’s newest look into the angst of...
View ArticleREVIEW: Rampart [2011]
“You can’t cheat on something you never committed to” After making a splash with his directorial debut The Messenger, writer/director Oren Moverman continues to delve into the subject matter of...
View ArticleREVIEW: 21 Jump Street [2012]
“What’s the girl in the back doing?” Screenwriters Michael Bacall and Jonah Hill made the right move when they decided their 21 Jump Street would be a continuation of the original television series and...
View ArticleREVIEW: The Spectacular Now [2013]
“You’ll always be my favorite ex-boyfriend” Some of us are lucky—a lot luckier than most. The thing about luck, though, is that it may look nothing like it should. Sometimes luck means having your...
View ArticleREVIEW: Don Jon [2013]
“I lose myself” I will say this: Don Jon is not quite what I expected. While the trailers do a good job showing off the surface objectification first-time writer/director Joseph Gordon-Levitt infuses...
View ArticleREVIEW: Short Term 12 [2013]
“Oh. That’s the piece of avocado in your beard.” Other films cropping up into your memory while watching something new can either be a sign that originality in cinema is officially dead or the...
View ArticlePicking Winners at the 86th Annual Academy Awards
The Oscars are generally quite boring, since we often know well in advance what is going to win Best Picture, Director, etc. But this year? Not so much. Sure, there are heavy favorites — see below. But...
View ArticleTop Ten Films of 2013: A year in cinema to write home about
2013 has been a banner year for cinema with a slew of quality pictures that makes you wonder how only nine got enough first place votes to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Most of my...
View ArticleVIDEO: Jenny Lewis’“Just One of the Guys”
Indie-folk/Alt-country, genre hyphenate singer/songwriter Jenny Lewis is back with her third (second if you don’t count her collaboration with The Watson Twins) solo album entitled The Voyager. It...
View ArticleREVIEW: The Gambler [2014]
“I think you’re the kind of guy who likes to lose” I was very surprised to see James Toback‘s name as Executive Producer on The Gambler remake after reading a 2011 editorial explaining how he found out...
View ArticleREVIEW: Trainwreck [2015]
“Monogamy isn’t realistic” Here I thought I could blame the editor for why Judd Apatow‘s films have been lackluster and overlong since The 40-Year-Old Virgin only to discover his latest Trainwreck is...
View ArticleREVIEW: Room [2015]
“There’s Room then outer space with the TV planets then Heaven.” ***POTENTIAL SPOILERS*** I’m not sure a more intensely emotional film than Lenny Abrahamson‘s Room has been released in the past decade...
View ArticleOnline Film Critics Society Ballot 2015
Below is my December 12th ballot for the 19th annual Online Film Critics Society Awards honoring movies released domestically in the United States during the 2015 calendar year. Group winners are...
View ArticlePicking Winners at the 88th Annual Academy Awards
For those handicapping at home, here are the guesses of Buffalo film fanatics Christopher Schobert, William Altreuter, and myself. Jared Mobarak: Here’s hoping Chris Rock does his best Ricky Gervais as...
View ArticleTop Ten Films of 2015: Where emotions run high
I have no problem saying 2015 was a great year for cinema. Putting together a Top Ten was difficult at every turn—both because each time I had to do so meant I had seen more films and as a result of my...
View ArticleTIFF16 REVIEW: Free Fire [2017]
“Talk about a fucking sledgehammer to crack a nut” TIFF’s Colin Geddes was correct when introducing Ben Wheatley‘s bottle episode of a film Free Fire with the words: “This will wake you up.” The...
View ArticleREVIEW: Kong: Skull Island [2017]
“Eating’s for the living” It’s amazing how a film’s success can create a tidal wave, but that’s exactly what Gareth Edwards‘ Godzilla did in 2014. We’re talking critical acclaim, half a billion dollars...
View ArticlePicking Winners at the 86th Annual Academy Awards
The Oscars are generally quite boring, since we often know well in advance what is going to win Best Picture, Director, etc. But this year? Not so much. Sure, there are heavy favorites — see below. But...
View ArticleTop Ten Films of 2013: A year in cinema to write home about
2013 has been a banner year for cinema with a slew of quality pictures that makes you wonder how only nine got enough first place votes to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Most of my...
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