Vanderbilt wrote and directed the powerhouse film that is Nuremberg. Using The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai as it’s basis, Vanderbilt grounds the film in facts and strong performances. Front and center in those performance is Russell Crowe who turns in what is arguably his best performance in years. Crowe plays Hermann Goring,…
Tag: michael shannon
The Flash (2023) – Andy Muschietti
Yes, some of the special effects are terrible, and yes, the film seems to be played more for laughs than telling a dramatic and serious story, and the cameos, such as they are, seem a little wasted, and Ezra Miller can come across as severely unlikeable but having waited a few months since the film’s…
Dead Birds (2004) – Alex Turner
Henry Thomas, Patrick Fugit, Michael Shannon, and Mark Boone Junior all team up for a different kind of horror film. The group play a collection of Confederate soldiers who have just pulled off a bank robbery and are holing up at an abandoned plantation to wait things out. Unfortunately, they aren’t exactly alone on the…
12 Strong (2018) – Blu-Ray Review
Releasing on blu-ray and DVD today from Warner Brothers is the film adaptation of the true story as retold in the novel Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. The day after 11 September, 2001, a group of soldiers volunteered to be the first on the ground in Afghanistan. The film tells that story, and of the…
The Shape of Water (2017) – Guillermo del Toro
del Toro’s latest film, The Shape of Water is very much a fairy tale for adults, as well as sharing a kinship with the horror films of the 1950s, specifically, 1954’s The Creature From the Black Lagoon (as well as to Abe Sapien as seen in del Toro’s own Hellboy series). But in this film,…
Midnight Special (2016) – Jeff Nichols
Owing its pedigree to films of the 80s like John Carpenter’s Starman and Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Nichols writes and directs this science fiction road movie that is best viewed with little to no plot knowledge. So suffice to say, I won’t be saying much about story points in my review….
Boardwalk Empire: Season 5
HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe winning period series comes to a close this week, with its final season being released to Blu-Ray and DVD today. A truncated eight episode season wraps up storylines for the show’s characters as Nucky Thompson’s (Steve Buscemi) career seems to be coming to an end. Set six years after…
Boardwalk Empire Season 4
Releasing today on Blu-Ray and DVD, is the latest installment, season 4, of HBO’s Emmy winning period gangster piece, Boardwalk Empire. I was lucky enough to get a look at it ahead of time, and once again, I love how HBO has pulled out all the stops, to make it the best that it can…
Boardwalk Empire – The Complete Third Season Blu-Ray
HBO was kind enough to send me an advance copy of their hit series Boardwalk Empire, starring Steve Buscemi, to take a look at. I wasn’t sure how to approach this one, as I am first and foremost very much NOT a fan of the gangster genre. I appreciate the Godfather series as cinema,…
Man of Steel (2013) – Zack Snyder
A disappointing mess. That’s what Warner, DC Comics, Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder have served up. I love the character of Superman! I’ve got comics piled in my apartment featuring the familiar red cape and blue suit, I liked Superman Returns, there are even moments in III that I enjoy (even I won’t touch Quest…
The Mind Reels 