Peter Weir’s 1979 film, The Plumber, is essentially a battle of wills between two very different characters. Jill Cowper (Judy Morris) is a masters student in anthropology. She’s educated, articulate, liberal-minded, and upper middle class. She’s married to Dr. Brian Cowper (Robert Coleby), a highly respected academic who is on the verge of being offered […]
Film Review: The Plumber (dir by Peter Weir)
Walkaway Joe seems like little more than a run-of-the-mill kitchen sink drama with a nine-ball angle. But Wright’s film is remarkably poignant.
WALKAWAY JOE: A Charming Coming-of-Age Pool Hall Drama
The Goldfinch (2019), Ansel Elgort, Warner Bros. Pictures The Goldfinch is a movie for which I had high hopes post trailer viewing. The primary reason is the reliable cast and intriguing themes. Starring Ansel Elgort, Luke Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Finn Wolfhard and Sarah Paulson; director John Crowley’s film is based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by […]
THE GOLDFINCH (2019): The Things I Liked…
Time: 81 Minutes Cast: James Stewart as Rupert Cadell John Dall as Brandon Shaw Joan Chandler as Janet Walker Cedric Hardwicke as Mr. Henry Kentley Farley Granger as Phillip Morgan Constance Collier as Mrs. Anita Atwater Douglas Dick as Kenneth Lawrence Edith Evanson as Mrs. Wilson Director: Alfred Hitchcock Two young men, Brandon Shaw (John Dall) and Phillip Morgan […]
MY CALL: I love this flick! There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but it’s still a solid movie. We have an awesome cast giving good performances in a well-directed, deliciously gory killer plant movie. What more did you want? MORE MOVIES LIKE The Ruins: Well, for more killer plant movies I’d aim for Splinter (2008), Invasion of […]
A deadly hiccup in space. So this is about a crew of three (Toni Collette, Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim). They’re on a mission to Mars to research how to sustain life there, but there is a small problem: there is a fourth person aboard (Shamier Anderson), and there isn’t going to be enough oxygen […]
The Oxygen Quandary – Stowaway (2021)
While it may not be as ambitious or as deep as it could have been, it is an exciting genre film with a charismatic performance from Angelina Jolie.
THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD: Nature Always Bites Back
Featured on SLICEOFLIFE.COM Genre: Historical/Biographical Forget Rocky vs. Creed, Luke vs. Vader, or Batman vs. Joker. These cinematic duels rely more on testosterone than wit, and, sometimes, wit throws the stronger punch. Take the notorious interview between President Nixon and David Frost, for instance. There are no boxing […]
“CINEMA” REVIEWS: NOMADLAND (2020) & SOUND OF METAL (2019) Due to the being very busy at my day job I have fallen slightly behind with my film reviews. Thus, I am consolidating two quality dramas I have watched in a double bill review presentation. In fact, it is quite apt that these two films are […]
“CINEMA” REVIEWS: NOMADLAND (2020) & SOUND OF METAL (2019)
“The Killing of Two Lovers” is a break-up story as stark as its Utah-in-winter setting, as brutal as its title. The debut feature of writer-director Robert Machoian throws us into the seemingly quiet aftermath of a split, the calm after what appears to have been a just-as-calm “we need to work through some things” parting. […]
Movie Review: Divorce, as personal as it gets — “The Killing of Two Lovers”
Title – Baby Done (2020) Director – Curtis Vowell (Fantail) Cast – Rose Matafeo, Matthew Lewis, Emily Barclay, Rachel House Plot – Young New Zealand based couple Zoe (Matafeo) and Tim (Lewis) find themselves unexpectedly expecting and the two find themselves at odds with how their lives will now be lived with Zoe keen to […]
Film Review – Baby Done (2020)
Last night, fully intent on just viewing one movie before going to bed, I decided to watch the 1977 film, Short Eyes. Why I thought that was a good idea, I’m not sure. Even though I didn’t know much about the film, I did know that it was a gritty prison drama that was written […]
Film Review: Short Eyes (dir by Robert M. Young)
Part of the purpose of the Blind Spot series is to challenge myself to watch classic films outside of my comfort zone. These are usually films I’ve heard great things about but have been hesitant to watch for one reason or another. 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde definitely fall into that description. A landmark of its […]
Blind Spot 65: Bonnie and Clyde
Well, isn’t this just adorable? “The Paper Tigers” is a martial arts action comedy filled with punch-ups, knock-outs, insults and one-liners. Well-acted, with actors who know how to throw a kick and land a punch — and a punchline — stuntman and editor turned writer-director Quoc Bao Tran has made a debut feature that tells […]
Movie Review: EveryDaddy was “Kung Fu Fighting” — “The Paper Tigers”
When it comes to action stars Jason Statham just has “it”. I can’t clearly define what “it” is, but you know it when you see it. It’s a healthy mix of charisma, grit, and physicality. Since Statham’s leading man breakthrough in 2002’s “The Transporter”, he has shown over and over that his anti-hero brand is […]
Time: 92 minutes Age Rating: Torture & Sadistic Violence Cast: Tobin Bell as John Kramer Costas Mandylor as Detective Mark Hoffman Scott Patterson as Agent Peter Strahm Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck Julie Benz as Brit Meagan Good as Luba Gibbs Mark Rolston as Agent Dan Erickson Carlo Rota as Charles Director: David Hackl Although Jigsaw […]
Imagine the nerds from “The Big Bang Theory” stumbling into the plot of “Taken,” or pretty much any Liam Neeson out-for-revenge thriller. Now imagine them Danish. That’s “Riders of Justice,” the dark, bloody, sweet and sometimes hilarious comic thriller from Anders Thomas Jensen. He scripted the Oscar-winning “In a Better World,” which had similar messaging […]
Movie Review: Danish, Dark, Bloody and…Sweet? “Riders of Justice”
An alienated teenager, Tom (Freddie Cunliffe) saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret. I stumbled across this film while working my way through film decades on Prime. I tried to remain as unaware of this film as I possibly could because I felt […]
Robert Mitchum was a high-mileage/hard-miles 57 when he took on Raymond Chandler’s iconic private eye Philip Marlowe in 1975’s “Farewell, My Lovely,” a character immortalized by Bogie in “The Big Sleep” in a story of that had been filmed twice before, in the film noir-mad 1940s. He wasn’t too old to take the part, but […]
Classic Film Review: Mitchum is Marlowe in Chandler’s “Farewell, My Lovely” (1975)
Throughout my many years of covering and reviewing movies I’ve been pretty vocal about my belief that Guy Pearce is (and for a long time has been) one of the most underrated and undervalued actors in the business today. He’s charismatic, incredibly diverse, and easily one of the industry’s busiest workers (he has FOUR films […]
REVIEW: “The Seventh Day” (2021)