Homage’s to exploitation films of the 1970’s can work very well, particularly if there in the hands of directors like Robert Rodriguez—Planet Terror and Machete are excellent—but the line between homage and forgettable trash is a thin one, and most…
The last black-and-white film until Schindler’s List to win the Best Picture Oscar, 1960’s The Apartment is considered by many to be one of the best comedies of the decade. With fine performances from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, The…
Written by Erich Segal and directed by Arthur Hiller, Love Story broke box-office records, and catapulted its stars, Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal, to stardom. While I’m the first to admit that Love Story remains a guilty pleasure more than…
Paranormal Activity is back for a third installment, and with any luck this will be its last. When the first one appeared way back in 2007, there was an air of excitement to the whole thing—is it real or not?…
Based on the true story of Kathryn Bolkovac, The Whistleblower explores the horrors of sex trafficking in vivid detail. When Atlanta policewoman Kathy Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) decided to accept a position as a UN peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia, her plan…
The first film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, 1927’s Wings is the only silent film to win the coveted award. Directed by William Wellman (A Star Is Born, The Ox-Bow Incident, Beau Geste) Wings took over a year…
Many who’ve been through high school had a teacher who affected them in a way no other one could; a teacher who makes a real honest-to-goodness impact on a student’s life. Perhaps that explains the enduring popularity of Dead Poets…
If we take film titles at face value, Final Destination 5 shouldn’t even exist. The previous installment of the popular horror franchise was called The Final Destination, indicating the franchise was over. However, Final Destination’s success in 3-D likely led…
My first exposure to Robin Williams was during his Mork & Mindy days. I was such a fan of the show that my parents bought me a pair of Mork’s trademark suspenders. Goodness knows he’s one of America’s most gifted…
Based on the romance between Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman) and groupie Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb) that eventually led to their deaths (both presumably by Vicious’ hand), Alex Cox’s Sid and Nancy uses a documentary style intermingled with…