Time may heal all wounds, but it can’t repair damaged careers. It does, however, prove Hooper was in the right all along, especially judging by Shout! Factory’s Blu-ray edition, which allows American viewers to see the longer international cut while also giving them Cannon’s trimmed theatrical version. Whether you watch one, the other or both, […]
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On the Road
Walter Salles’ On the Road extends a fragmented blip on the map of American poetry — one that doesn’t necessitate resurrection. An ode to poet Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation, On the Road fails to elicit nostalgia for all things Beat, but not for lack of ambition. Its Americana backdrop depicts the unbridled beauty […]
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Before Midnight
Jesse (Ethan Hawke, Sinister) — the writer we’ve watched meet, fall for and settle down with Celine (Julie Delpy, 2 Days in New York) — tells some colleagues about a story idea of his. It involves a group of characters with unique quirks of perception: One has déjà vu, someone else has no facial recognition, […]
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Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Granted, that title tells you everything you need to know. Armed with steampunk weaponry and high-gloss camp, siblings Hansel (Jeremy Renner, The Bourne Legacy) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton, Clash of the Titans) have devoted their lives to dispatching witches. In the case of this film, their current target is one (Famke Janssen, Taken 2) responsible […]
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National Lampoon’s Vacation: 30th Anniversary Edition
Although I much would prefer a theatrical re-release or a fourth Vacation sequel, Warner Bros. celebrates the Griswold family’s inaugural cinematic sojourn with a 30th-anniversary Blu-ray edition. Think about it: Christie Brinkley and Beverly D’Angelo in high-definition; the 12-year-old me would have wept horny tears of joy. Then still beloved by the public, Chevy Chase […]
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Snitch
Here, he’s John Matthews, a successful businessman with a trophy wife (Nadine Velazquez, Flight) and an adorable little daughter. He doesn’t live with his other child from his starter marriage, Jason (Rafi Gavron, Celeste & Jesse Forever), now a high school senior. He’s a good kid. He just has bad taste in friends, one of […]
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Beautiful Creatures
Set in a South Carolina small town where the drawls are Okie-thick, the film follows Lena (New Zealand newcomer Alice Englert) as she nears her all-important sweet 16th. Because she is a member of the Ravenwood family of witches and warlocks — they prefer the term “casters” — that birthday is when she finds out […]
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Aroused
For the film, Anderson interviews 16 female porn stars — including Alexis Texas, Asphyxia Noir and other obviously invented names — about what got them into the business, what they get from it, and what misconceptions they’d like to clear up. In other words, she gives them the opportunity to appear human. In doing so, […]
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Stripped / Nailbiter / American Mary
First, in Stripped, debuting feature director J.M.R. Luna updates the been-there scenario of college-age assholes on a holiday of hell by applying a coat of found footage to it. In this case, four friends gather to make the 21st birthday of one of them memorable, beginning with 8 a.m. bowl smoking before heading to Vegas, […]
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Dark Skies
The first sci-fi-heavy effort from Blumhouse Productions, that mighty machine of menace that brought you the Paranormal Activity pictures, the film focuses on the Barrett family. Lacy (Keri Russell, TV’s The Americans) is a Realtor; Daniel (Josh Hamilton, J. Edgar) is an architect, but currently unemployed in the midst of the Great Recession. Because of […]