Yesterday, we discussed — among other films — Frank Darabont’s The Mist, which examined what happens when groups of people in extreme danger start to turn on each other. One of today’s films, Toby Wilkins’ Splinter, takes a bit of a different tactic: it examines what happens when disparate groups of people are forced to work together in the face of inexorable peril. The resulting film isn’t much cheerier, but it is a little more optimistic about the human condition. It’s […]
Posts tagged "Pass the Popcorn!"
The 31 Days of Horror, Days 20-22: A Stephen King Mini-Marathon (The Mist, The Shining, & Silver Bullet)
Nearing the home stretch of this list, I’m aware that we’ve doubled up before: the weekend of October 6th we looked at George Romero’s first two Living Dead movies, and I got vocal about small but wonderful stretches of the otherwise troublesome Amusement and When a Stranger Calls in a catch-all installment. There are dozens of artisans in the horror arena that deserve multi-movie showcases. Romero, of course. Bava or Argento could easily have been spotlighted for a full-length segment. This year, though, I’m awarding a spotlight slot […]
The 31 Days of Halloween, Day 16: Jeepers Creepers
A few days ago, we discussed I Know What You Did Last Summer , and how my penchant for retroactively viewing my earliest scares through rose-colored glasses often causes me to exaggerate a horror film’s potency in the present. Jeepers Creepers, released four years after Last Summer, is arguably of the same era, but it’s important to note the difference: remembering I Know What You Did Last Summer is often a lot kinder to it than watching it. Having seen Jeepers Creepers during the same time frame, […]
The 31 Days of Horror, Day 13: I Know What You Did Last Summer
Well, a fond farewell to you, horror movie fan credibility. It was nice to have you around. But before you take one look at my defense of this dead-fish Scream cash-in and decide that I don’t know what I’m talking about, I implore you to read on, and to hear me out on this. I suppose I was 10 when I was bitten by the bug. You guys know what I’m talking about — it’s the age at which I […]
Pass The Popcorn: “E.T.” Comes Home on Blu-Ray
One of the great films of our generation makes its Blu-Ray debut, and we’ve got a review!
The 31 Days of Halloween, Day 9: A Tale of Two Sisters
The appeal of horror cinema is often ephemeral. The pleasures of the genre aren’t always fleeting, of course — what horror fan can’t remember the first time they fell in love with the feeling of being scared? — but I’d argue that we horror fans often watch movies just because they’re horror movies. We do this because there are certain earmarks of the genre that we rigidly respect, and even when those earmarks aren’t pulled off very well, we’re excited […]
Pass the Popcorn: The Dark Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy has drawn to a close with “The Dark Knight Rises”. How does it fare next to 2008’s titanic “The Dark Knight”?
Pass The Popcorn: Ted
Seth Macfarlane’s “Ted” proves that the “Family Guy” creator can bring his talents to the big screen.
Pass The Popcorn: “The Dictator”
Sacha Baron Cohen introduces the wold to General Aladeen in The Dictator, his latest pairing with Larry Charles. Does it get our two thumbs up? Read on and check it out.
Pass the Popcorn: “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone”
Documentaries that chronicle the rise, triumph, and inevitable fall from grace – and redemptive coda, if one is available – of an influential artist are often tricky propositions: VH1’s “Behind the Music” series pretty much cornered the market on this plotline early on, and subsequent efforts to subvert the formula either need to be either particularly innovative in style or to boast an interesting enough story to distinguish themselves. Take last year’s Pearl Jam Twenty, for example: an exemplary documentary, […]
Pass The Popcorn: “Safe House”
Denzel Washington plays the bad guy once again in “Safe House.” Is this movie as good as “Training Day,” the movie that won Denzel his second Oscar? Check out our review.
Pass The Popcorn: Base Humor & the Decline of the R-Rated Comedy
2011 was not a good year for comedy. Arguably the best comedy of the year, “ Bridesmaids ” was, at its best, an adequate The Hangover -esque comedy for women and, at its worst, an unnecessarily long and meandering plot with a funny diarrhea scene somewhere in the middle (fecal-spoiler). The R-Rated comedy has had a checkered past, but now that the Judd Apatow-Renaissance is upon us (“ The 40 Year Old Virgin ,” “ Knocked Up “), the theater audience has been treated with some good and often great […]
