Author Archives
Founder: Elements of Madness | Contributing Senior Film Critic: CLTure | Past Bylines at Pretty Vacant One, FilmFed, & Mountain Xpress | The Cine-Men podcast co-host | NC Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, & Critics Choice Association member | Rotten Tomatoes approved individual critic
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Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a space oddity.
Heralding a return to silly, thrilling space travel movies, Guardians of the Galaxy, opening August 1st, is Marvel Studio’s tenth picture and the final standalone piece of what they call “Phase 2.” Directed and co-written by James Gunn (Slither, Super),… Read More ›
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Beware of Misfire: The Last Stand [movie review]
As a child, my first R-rated film was The Terminator – a quintessential piece of cinematic history – and it was merely the first of other films that would become tent poles of my life. Commando (prepare for World War… Read More ›
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Ahnold’s “Last Stand” [review primer]
Releasing today is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Last Stand, his first real picture since leaving office. I choose not to include The Expendables 1 & 2 or The Rundown, as he didn’t play a huge role in any of them (though… Read More ›
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Weird Wins [ParaNorman Review]
Last Thursday, Wifey, Elder Bro, and I went to a sneak preview of ParaNorman courtesy of two passes from Polka Dot Bakeshop. It was screened at the Regal Phillips Place and in 3D. If you’re unfamiliar, ParaNorman is the story… Read More ›
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15 Things That Shouldn’t Bother You About ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ [/Film Rebuttal]
Yesterday, /Film released an article from their staff titled 15 Things That Bothered Us About ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but I felt like their issues weren’t as problematic as they believed. If you consider the Nolan… Read More ›
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MOD Week, Day Three: Machine Gun Preacher
In every story, everyone wants redemption. Even the villains, whether they admit it or not, want to be forgiven for what they’ve done. Even if the only means they have for obtaining it is to crush everyone in their path…. Read More ›
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MOD Week, Day Two: Goon
A few years ago Kevin Smith made mention of a hockey movie featuring Sean William Scott, an actor he’d recently finished working with on Cop Out. Scott is an underrated actor, mostly known for the eternally immature Steve Stiffler from… Read More ›
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MOD Week, Day One: Arahan
I’ve always had a fondness for the martial arts, and often wished that I had studied it as a child. I did take a few “classes” in college, run by a friend in his spare time, but otherwise, nothing. Thus,… Read More ›
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MOD Week
You may have noticed that my film reviews stopped back in May. Between travel, holidays, and the job hunt, movie going has fallen by the wayside. It doesn’t help either that a lot of recent releases have been all bluster… Read More ›
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Stay in the Light [Dark Shadows movie review]
The original Dark Shadows was a gothic soap opera which aired from 1966 to 1971. The focus was on the Collins family, and like all soap operas, each program was full of melodrama. Unlike most programs of its time, though,… Read More ›
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The Raven: Mediocre Macabre [movie review]
Last night I went to a sneak preview of The Raven, and I am absolutely grateful that I didn’t pay for it. I was b-o-r-e-d. It’s not that it wasn’t full of action. It’s not that it didn’t have violence…. Read More ›
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The Raven [movie review primer]
This week’s film review is of James McTeigue’s The Raven starring John Cusack, opening nationally April 27th. Courtesy of some friends, I’ll be attending a sneak preview tonight at the Regal Theater at Stonecrest. Haven’t been to this theater since… Read More ›
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Lockout, or Why I Should Have Seen “3 Stooges” Instead [movie review]
Lockout is both exactly the kind of action movie you like (violence, humor, a cool hero facing immense odds) and the kind of action movie you want it to be (there’s a “no gun” policy for a reason). Unfortunately I… Read More ›
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Lockout (movie review primer)
Tomorrow’s screening and review will be of James Mather and Stephen St. Leger’s Lockout. Based on the trailer, the premise appears to be that one man is hired to save the president’s daughter from a prison riot in progress…in space…. Read More ›
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American Reunion [movie review]
In the summer of 1999 I had graduated from high school and was sleeping on my best friend’s mom’s pull out sofa. I spent my days working at my Dad’s store and my evenings with my friends. The original American… Read More ›