I was precisely 8 years old the last time I went to a drive-in movie. I remember because it was my birthday, and my mom forced my older brother Kenny, 18 at the time, to bring me along on a date with his girlfriend. Kenny, as you might expect, was not enthused. Once we parked, […]
Glenn McDonald
Posted inCulture
Movie review: God’s Pocket
God’s Pocket ★★½ Now playing Mickey Scarpato is having a bad week. A barely employed trucker in the hardscrabble Philly neighborhood known as God’s Pocket, Mickey hustles fast cash by working with low-level gangsters to steal sides of beef off delivery trucks. Mickey’s friends owe him money, but they also owe the mob money—and the […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Stylish vampire romance in Only Lovers Left Alive
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE Opening Friday Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston play aging, anxious vampires in ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, the new joint from relentlessly stylish filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. Darkly funny and perfectly cast, the film seems to pretend that no other vampire movies have been made in the last 50 years, which is both […]
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New film Joe has deep roots in North Carolina
Advance word on Joe, the new film from director David Gordon Green, has been that it’s a return to form for both the director and its star, Nicolas Cage. It tells the story of an ex-con (Cage) who befriends a 15-year-old (Tye Sheridan) who’s on the brink of following his father into a brutal life […]
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An amazing performance by Scarlett Johansson anchors a smart, ambitious sci-fi riddle
UNDER THE SKIN Opening Friday One of the very first scenes in Under The Skindirector Jonathan Glazer’s haunting, astonishing new science-fiction filmfeatures Scarlett Johansson undressing herself. But she isn’t taking her own clothes off. Instead, she’s removing the underwear of another Scarlett Johanssonperhaps a host body or clonethat lays dead in an abstract space of […]
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DVD+Digital: Aging, apocalypse and After People
courtesy of History channel Ever since aging through the sad end of the 18-35 demographic, I find my television tastes have drifted. When clicking around these days, I tend to linger on the pop scholarship offered by basic cable stations like History, Discovery, National Geographic and Animal Planet. My conclusion is that I like reality […]
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DVD+Digital: Mel Brooks, political correctness and The Producers
courtesy of Shout! Factory As a filmmaker, Mel Brooks’ brand of comedy is often broad, usually excessive and always delivered in the spirit of goofiness. In his best genre parodies — Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety — no gag is too obvious, no joke is too dumb. Brooks’ first movie, though, was different. Released […]
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DVD+Digital: Old reissues, new technology and infinite TV/movies
courtesy of Shout! Factory It’s a funny thing about new releases in the digital and DVD business — some weeks you get nothing particularly interesting, and some weeks you get everything under the sun. A recent flood of titles suggests the variety of options in that realm we can still call, with relative accuracy, home […]
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DVD+Digital: Mike Leigh, British food trucks and Life is Sweet
courtesy of the Criterion Collection British filmmaker Mike Leigh is known for his very particular way of making films. Rather than start with a script, Leigh works with his actors in a designated improvisation period before filming begins. The director provides sketched-out ideas and characters, but the actors become full collaborators in the creation of […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Anarchic spirit in gonzo-comedy throwback This Is the End
This Is the End opens Wednesday (see times below) Our rating: Co-written and co-directed by Seth Rogen, This Is the End is something of a throwback to that style of movie they used to call the gonzo comedy. Like The Blues Brothers or Caddyshack, it takes a simple comedic premise, brings aboard a busload of […]
