Frailty (2001) – Bill Paxton

I miss Bill Paxton. Sure, I never actually got to meet the man, but I loved his work. And It has been forever since I watched his film Frailty, so why not a revisit? Damn, this one is still a solid film. Mr. Meiks (Matthew McConaughey) comes to see FBI agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe)….

Tropic Thunder (2008) – Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller directed the ultimate Hollywood satire with Tropic Thunder. He developed the story with Justin Theroux, and the pair wrote a script with Ethan Cohen. It’s sharp, pointed, and under its endlessly quotable dialogue and performances is a skewering look at Tinsel Town. Everything seems to be a lie, from promotions to images to…

Amistad (1997) – Steven Spielberg

Spielberg returns to another examination of humanity and history with his 1997 film Amistad. Based on an actual event in 1839, the film explores a revolt of Mende captives aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad. When the captives take over the ship they demand that the surviving crew take them back to Africa, but instead,…

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) – Travis Knight

I remember getting a glimpse of this film with its first released trailer, and I wasn’t really interested. It seems my brain simply chose to block out the part where it says it’s a Laika Studios production… these guys have yet to make a bad picture. I picked it up on blu-ray sight unseen, only…

True Detective: Season 2

  Releasing from HBO today on both Blu-Ray and DVD is the sophomore season of the intense Nic Pizzolatto written and created police drama. The critics and viewers were divided on this one, you either loved it or hated it, but I think that was partly because everyone thought they would be getting more of…

True Detective – Season 1

Released today on Blu-Ray and DVD from HBO is the first season of the stellar police thriller, True Detective. Created and completely written by Nic Pizzolatto and starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey with the entire 8 episode series directed by Cary Fukunaga this show is intelligent, dark, captivating and gritty. Set in Louisiana, the series…

Trailer Tracks: Contact (1997) – Robert Zemeckis

  I read this novel by Carl Sagan a long time ago, and was very eager to see the movie when it was released. For me it was well worth the wait, it was a very human story, set against the backdrop of possible contact with an alien species. With a well-rounded cast including Jodie…

Contact (1997)

…”good to go”… “I’m good to go…” My throat tightens up every time that sequence is on-screen. It fills me with such hope and excitement for the possibility of contact. Contact is one of those movies that I won’t watch for extended periods of time, but then when I throw it on to watch, I…