THE WOLF OF WALL STREET & GOODFELLAS: Martin Scorsese’s Best Double Feature Yet
Martin Scorsese has two tendencies: the first is to make films that all follow a thematic or stylistic pattern, building off of one another and forming a canon of work that has since proved him to be a great auteur. Then there’s his tendency to break away from that and make something seemingly totally different than any of those defining films but which still, to varying extents perhaps, appeal to the masses. But where does his new film, The Wolf of Wall Street, fit in? It is one of the funniest films he’s ever made, in my opinion, and it isn’t necessarily violent, not in the traditional sense anyway. But, when paired with 1990’s Goodfellas, Scorsese’s main stylistic techniques and of course his thematic focuses are really made apparent. And this is by no means a negative pairing I’m...
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Defending The Found Footage Subgenre
Ever since I saw Cloverfield in theaters twice over opening weekend, I have had a soft spot in my heart for the found footage, shaky cam subgenre of horror film. I still firmly believe that when they’re done right, they can be profoundly interesting takes on typical horror iconography, scary for their implied, supposed realism and the way this realism necessitates that we don’t see more than our civilian videographer would. But what makes a good found footage film? For one thing, it can still be effective and innovative at times, and that is why I still want to advocate for it. First, let me just say however that I haven’t seen Blair Witch Project in many years, but I know enough to retrospectively argue that this film was the game changer. I think more so than even filmmaking...
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Who Are Horror Movies For Anymore? YOU’RE NEXT, THE CONJURING And The Future Of A Genre
For decades now, the stigma surrounding horror has encompassed similar disdain to lower forms of entertainment all together, some media research even comparing the pleasures these films give us to the seedy and singular experience that pornographic films denote. Then, in recent years, we’ve been given regurgitated remakes, gratuitous gore-nography and trite torture porn. Now, don’t get me wrong—I love the first two Saw films and both Hostel films just as much as the next person, actually. I wouldn’t even necessarily venture to say they’re guilty pleasures because I see them as just one of many coexisting subgenres with merits and flaws alike. But when even those things which start off as brilliant become exercises in merely how many horrific ways of killing people on screen writers can concoct, things do get a little stale. I likewise have no...
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John Waters should have directed THE HELP
I avoided seeing The Helpfor a few weeks because what looked like a solid picture was dogged by controversy. It’s true that the film has uncomfortable moments, but it’s no more racist than the Coen Brothers film The Ladykillers. It’s certainly less so than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. But that’s not the problem here. Over and over again while watching this movie it felt like the perfect material for John Waters. As it stands, The Help feels like a movie John Waters would have made in a shameless Oscar grab. You know, like David Cronenberg’s three most recent pictures. Proper, upper-middle class white people are the villains. An ugly girl, a tacky white lady and a bunch of black people team up to take on those pretty, porcelain southern belles. And there’s a scene where someone eats a...
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Superhero film set pics: You’re f*cking with the magic
There’s a little story back from the early days of Google. The Google guys go to visit Viacom, and they show the then-head of the media conglomerate how the Google ad model worked–with trackable and measurable analytics. The Viacom executive, who had made his reputation on traditional blind TV ad buys, looked at the Google ad model and said, “You’re f*cking with the magic.” The internet has been f*cking with the magic for years now. I’m writing this on a blog, for example. And there are a lot of blogs, aren’t there? As someone who has spent the last 10 years of his life following movies online and writing about them, I’ve seen the community grow. But I’ve never seen anything like the excessive coverage of The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and Man of Steel. I understand that...
Read MoreTHE KING’S SPEECH, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, THE FIGHTER… and the Oscar delusion
I haven’t written much about the Oscar race this year. That’s in no small part due to The Social Network’s critics award sweep early on in the race. Yes, I’ve had a chip on my should since David Fincher’s Facebook thriller, dark comedy, social satire, Shakespearean morality tale… whatever it is… won the National Board of Review’s Best Picture award in December and flattened the competition in every major critics poll after that. The Social Network reigned until Oscar nomination day, when The King’s Speech scored 12 nominations, more than any other picture. The King’s Speech has since won the PGA prize. And the SAG ensemble acting award. And the DGA prize for Tom Hooper’s direction, which is the most consistent Best Picture bellwether. Hooper’s victory and the sudden surge in popularity for The King’s Speech isn’t really surprising. Sony/Columbia can’t campaign for...
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