On an Irish island, the whales and villagers alike are being attacked by an alien creature that thrives on blood and water alone. Looked like Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley, Alarm, In Her Skin) picked the wrong two weeks to sub as an officer there. Her jaded partner, the functioning alcoholic O’Shea (Richard Coyle, Prince of Persia: […]
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Posted inArts & Culture
Killer Holiday / Murder University
Killer Holiday is so named because the killer’s name is Holiday (ha-ha?) and because for the aggravating eight college students passing for protagonists, it’s spring break, dude! So your Overweight Douche, your Frat Douche, your Party Girl, your Smart Girl and so on pile into an RV to get their kicks on Route 66, because […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Captain Phillips
The British-born director always had a penchant for going against the mostly jingoistic American style of docudrama filmmaking — where we absolutely at all times need a bad guy who goes against our collective nationalist ideals to root against — with films such as the 9/11-based United 93, which presented the hijackers in a very […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Psycho II / Psycho III / Bates Motel
However, that doesn’t mean one can’t make a satisfying picture that continues to tell the tale. While they’re sacrilege to some, the Psycho sequels get a bad rap, yet they’re actually pretty good, considering the awfully intimidating shadow in which they exist. The first two, 1983’s Psycho II and 1986’s Psycho III, have made their […]
Posted inMusic
Bone density
Bone marrow is a soft and spongy substance, yet it’s the innermost element of the human construct, vital to our existence as a sustainable and adaptable species. Without it, our bodies would succumb to even the most innocuous threat. Likewise, Tallows’ music is so constructed: robust with instrumental depth and conceptual assertion. There’s also a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
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, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
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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Fred Won’t Move Out
That might sound like emotionally exhausting stuff, but this small indie has a surprisingly light touch. Writer-director Richard Ledes is more interested in capturing the stirring moments of family life than he is in heavy-handed exploration. The elderly couple at the center, Fred and Susan (Ruby Sparks’ Elliott Gould and Choke’s Judith Roberts), reside in […]
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Die! Die! My Darling!
Directed by Silvio Narizzano (Georgy Girl) from a clever script by the ever-reliable Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), Die! Die! My Darling! is now available on DVD through the manufactured-on-demand Sony Pictures Choice Collection. In her final feature role, the Lifeboat buoy Bankhead anchors the film as Mrs. Trefoil, whose son was engaged to married […]
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Parker
Based on Parker novel No. 19, Flashfire, the film puts Expendables team member Jason Statham in a role previously played by, among others, Mel Gibson in Payback, Robert Duvall in The Outfit and even Jim Brown in The Split. Parker is a criminal, but the “good” kind: He doesn’t steal from those who can’t afford […]