Here’s a question for all you novice Hollywood screenwriters. How do you link a storyline set in 1973 with a present day plot circa 2013? Oh, and remember, the characters involved can’t age the prerequisite 40 years and yet still must be directly “related” to those from four decades past. Don’t know? Well, why not […]
Author: Bill Gibron
Cloud Atlas
We’re all connected. It’s either as a species, as part of a communal society, or as individuals living within universal maxims of love, fear, happiness, and struggle. Over time, over place, we still maintain a link, locked in to our shared humanity, no matter the situations or circumstances. Though it has much more to say […]
Mama
Is there room for overt sentimentality in a scary movie? That’s the main question one encounters after sitting through the Guillermo Del Toro-produced/Andres Muschietti-directed fright film Mama. While the aforementioned Mexican auteur has himself included fantasy and romanticized elements in his own movie macabre (The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth), it appears his penchant for turning […]
The Guilt Trip
Whenever Oscar-winning chanteuse and defiant diva Barbra Streisand decides to grace us with her presence on the silver screen, it’s an event. From her initial musical work in the ’60s to the screwball comedies and romances of the ’70s, her career choices have always attempted to match her well known in-studio perfectionism. So how does […]
Broken City
The movies love sleaze in high places. From the posh offices of world leaders to the local political scandal, film enjoys tales of absolute power corrupting absolutely-and those who would bring such despots down. So it’s no surprise when an effort like Broken City comes around. It has all the components for a competent thriller. […]
The Details
A couple of years back, the brilliant Coen brothers unleashed A Serious Man on unsuspecting movie audiences. The masterpiece of faith and fate, the film featured a physics professor nebbish whose own growing Anti-Semitism is tempered by a cosmic design to make his life as unlivable as possible. Within the dark comedic core was a […]
Promised Land
Dealing with the hot button environmental issue of fracking (otherwise known as the hydraulic fracturing of the Earth’s bedrock in order to release trapped natural gas), and featuring a wealth of talent in front of and behind the scenes, Promised Land should be better. In fact, it should be great, especially when you consider the […]
A Monster in Paris
By now, the family film genre has become a bit of a cinematic cliche. Either every effort is measured against Pixar’s presumed perfection, or cast off as commercial claptrap from studios which understand little beyond marketing and the elementary school zeitgeist. Walking somewhere in between both is the fun, flawed A Monster in Paris. Produced […]
John Dies at the End
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from horror film director Don Coscarelli. When last he darkened a Cineplex with his dangerous visions, it was in service of the wonderful Elvis-as-ghostbuster classic Bubba Ho-Tep. Unfortunately, since then, his post-Phantasm career has been stalled. He’s tried to get a sequel, the vampire-inspired Bubba Nosferatu, off […]