2009

Stop-motion animation is a painstakingly long process, one point made perfectly clear by many of the excellent special features on the Criterion Dual Format Blu-ray-DVD combo of Wes Anderson‘s 2009 Roald Dahl adaptation Fantastic Mr. Fox.

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The eighth Fantastic Fest is now officially underway! And while I can’t wait to start gorging myself on movies until I’m so sleep deprived I consider voting for a third party candidate, I realize that a lot of you can’t make the trip down to Austin or aren’t yet sold on the world’s most badass […]

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These key Wes Anderson moments are amusing and compelling, and if you’re a fan of them, believe me, Moonrise Kingdom will not let you down. Here are the Top 10 Awkward Wes Anderson Movie Moments.

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Ben Wheatley’s overlooked movie ‘Down Terrace’ is basically a surprisingly funny mumblecore movie with a focus on guns and murders instead of self-indulgent whining and indie-pop music. The film feels real without ever feeling boring, or sacrificing the hardness of the story for mushy feelings.

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It’s that time of the year again! The days are getting shorter, the kids are back in school, and the sweltering heat is starting to de-swelter. Could it be? YES! Fantastic Fest 2011 kicks off in less than three weeks! From Thursday, 9/22 through Thursday, 9/29, true genre movie lovers will gather primarily at the […]

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“How do you get a concussion when you don’t got any fucking brains?” Paul Aufiero doesn’t go through the motions of a surface-level functioning social life; he begrudges them. He’s 36 years old, unmarried, and uninterested in the prospect, lives at home with his mother with whom he’s in constant bickering conflict, and the entirety […]

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Seeing Double celebrates the only thing better than watching one movie—watching two movies. On the lookout for a more perfect cinematic union, two reviewers watch and discuss a double feature chosen either for things they have in common or things they don’t. The films may be old or new, obscure or well known, celebrated or […]

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When it came out last fall, “Gamer” was quickly dismissed and almost as quickly left theaters, leaving in its wake a handful of dedicated fans and critics that either hailed it for its technical wizardry or panned it for its rapid-fire editing, fevered pace, and outrageous plot. In short, it had cult classic written all […]

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This is a new column that I pitched to Eric a few weeks ago, basically because I have a lot of pent-up frustration about award shows. Thank you Eric for letting me “freelance” while all I’m really doing is venting. Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, 2009 WINNER: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) […]

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“Black Dynamite” is the rare parody that not only appreciates its source material, but builds on top of it. And while it’s too bad more people didn’t see it when it was released, it only made about $300,000 total, it’s perfectly suited for cult status and a second life on DVD. The jokes land harder at 3 a.m., it’s a great movie to watch with friends, and there are scenes and even lines of dialogue meant for repeat viewing.

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I wasn’t ashamed in the slightest when I called “Jennifer’s Body” one of my favorite movies of last year. You read that right. I put it right up there with “A Single Man” and “The Road”. Surprised? So was I. But so much of “Jennifer’s Body” worked for me, dare I say all of it, […]

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64 million people a year suffer from insomnia and every so often I am one of them. But rather than use the extra time I’ve been given during a given insomniac episode to be productive, balance my checkbook, study for the LSAT or exercise, I instead fool myself into thinking the time isn’t my own […]

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[Update: Listen to Phil’s interview on The Authority Smashing Hour (roughly 16:30-30:00) discussing the film and relevant topics with its director Jonathan Shockley.] “The public mind might have funny ideas about democracy.” Can a society whose political system functions in accordance with the self-serving strategies of big business call itself democratic? Is limited, programmed public […]

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Why “Pontypool” didn’t become a huge cult hit during its initial theatrical release is beyond me. It got good reviews from critics who know what they’re talking about (Noel Murray, Kim Newman, Mark Kermode and David Edelstein, to name a few). It made a good run on the festival circuit, playing at both SXSW and […]

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“How could guys like us worry about a tiny little thing like the sun?” The bracing melancholy of childhood is an underrepresented phenomenon in popular entertainment. By and large, children’s films prefer to coast by, parading antiquated, uninteresting archetypes and reducing all conflict to clinical action sequences devoid of substance or originality (see: Tim Burton’s […]

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