In-depth reviews of my favorite movies of all time.
Of the string of early 1930s Universal Studios horror films for which director James Whale is best known, my easy favorite is The Old Dark House. Not to take anything away from the brilliant Invisible …
One possible reason the private eye film has always been so resonant with myself might be how closely it aligns with the hero cycle that is supposedly embedded in the psyche of the human condition. …
Caddyshack is the kind of movie where a character pauses mid-conversation to let out a giant fart and then says "hey hey, did somebody step on a duck?" More specifically, Caddyshack is the kind of …
Heist films haven't always been the cheery Ocean's 11 style affairs that we know today. Once upon a time, when the world was young, heist films were brutally nihilistic affairs where, spoiler alert, EVERYONE died …
I was never much of a drug user. I mean, sure, like everyone else, I've tried plenty in my time, but I just couldn't ever get anything to stick I guess. Hell, I don't even …
It's a Gift is one hell of a depressing comedy. It's like just being on the edge of going to sleep with a mosquito buzzing in your ear, and no matter how many times you …
For someone who has always been a silent comedy fan, it took me a while to give the humor of the Marx brothers a chance. Sure, the visual gags were still there, especially with Harpo …
This is Spinal Tap is not the first "mockumentary," but it is probably the most famous one. And, in a time when the genre can be seen all over film (Borat, Bruno, and the slew …
For the uninitiated, film noir can be a disappointing thing. The colorful dialog often veers dangerously close to camp Calvin and Hobbes "Tracer Bullet" self-parody, while the B-movie visuals sometimes aren't quite as stylish as …
Gummo is a movie people either hate or love. Or, more accurately, Gummo is a movie people either hate, or are apologists for--and today I guess I will be taking the apologist tack. After all, …