Retrospectives

Much like Cameron Crowe, Francis Ford Coppola, and M. Night Shyamalan, John Carpenter all too frequently falls into the category of the “wayward auteur.” The public sees the horror maestro, in other words, as a…

Picture this: You’re camping with some friends down by the beach. There’s no TV, the ice-cream isn’t the same, and the rock you’re sitting on is unbearable. It’s cold, wet, and the only source of…

When I first laid eyes on Leap Year, I was an impressionable 20-year-old on the cusp of 21-year-old greatness. I was slowly saving money and making plans for my Graduation Trip, in part eager to…

Back to the Future Part II is iconic, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good movie. While it’s flashy visuals and its satirization of America’s future are fun, the movie itself is a mess.…

ABC’s 1990 It miniseries was the first adaption of Stephen King’s classic novel of the same name and has since become an enduring cult classic. The miniseries put a face to the horrific Pennywise the…

From its roots in the “pantomime dame” craze of the late 19th century to the modern-day antics of RuPaul’s Drag Race, drag has served as a way of subverting audiences’ expectations about gender. By performing…

I watched The Accused many years ago, at a point in my life where I was too young to really know what was going on in the film. I knew it was a movie about…

I should warn you, this retrospective on the 20th anniversary of Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam is going to make me sound like a prude. Despite the risk of said label, I maintain that this movie…

Even with all the changes we’ve seen over the last twenty years, one of the few constants has been South Park and all its stupidly intelligent glory. Since 1997, we’ve had the privilege of seeing…

Maverick (1994) stars Mel Gibson as the titular character of Bret Maverick — an unscrupulous gambler in need of some money to enter a poker championship. James Garner (the star of the original Maverick TV series) is…

With the remake of Pet Sematary in cinemas, it’s more than appropriate to take a look at the original film version on its 30th anniversary. In case you’ve forgotten, Doctor Louis Creed, and his family — his…

John Waters’ films are all about transgression. Like his contemporary David Lynch, the underground cinema icon seeks to expose the rot at the heart of the idyllic world of post-World War II America. But where…

It has been a few months since I turned 30, which of course made me think of this fantastic rom-com with the beautiful Jennifer Garner. The movie was released 15 years ago, yet she looks…

The film world rightly regards Joel and Ethan Coen as among the most innovative filmmakers of their generation. A large part of the brothers’ popularity is their uncanny ability to work within various genres while…

In a world that is rife with corruption, The China Syndrome has much to tell us, even after forty years. The China Syndrome is a thriller about an accident at a nuclear plant. A reporter…

The 90’s were host to all these great teen movies, like Cruel Intentions, Can’t Hardly Wait and of course, 10 Things I Hate About You. The script is funny and the cast really pull it…

Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro has a special eye for horror/fairytale films, along with implementing drama involving love. For instance, both of his Hellboy films were love stories with comic book-isms attached. Guillermo does…

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Knowing first appeared on the big screen. If you asked 15-year-old me what he thinks of this flick, he’d tell you that it’s an excellent…

Being in your mid-twenties is rough. You’re supposedly young enough to remain attached to the recklessness of youth, yet too old not to have your completely figured out. You subsist on canned and frozen food.…

Have you ever worked in an office? Then Office Space is a film about your life. The technology may be twenty years out of date, cubicles may be replaced with open plan offices, but still:…

Last week, Walter Hill’s street-fighting gang adventure The Warriors celebrated its 40th anniversary. Hill’s film, while initially poorly received by critics, has in the decades since its release garnered a massive cult following. But the big…

Stagecoach (1939) features a man many have come to know and idolize, one who made a significant mark on hardcore, iconic American cinema. This, of course, was John Wayne. The “Duke” had an acting career…

I love that When Harry Met Sally was released the year I was born; it feels almost serendipitous considering how much I adore this movie. I realize that by admitting this, I have revealed my…

January 30th marked the 10 year anniversary of Taken, a film that took moviegoers by surprise almost instantaneously. It became a hit with fans, with many praising it for its original story, message, and the butt-kicking…

The ‘90s were wild. Time was, you could assemble a gaggle of fresh-faced young actors, give them relatively little to do except be incredibly attractive, add in a rad soundtrack, maybe some celeb cameos — and…

The year of 2009 was apparently a Rom-Com year for me, because He’s Just Not That Into You is the second movie I remember watching in the cinema, with the first being Bride Wars. This…

When Cruel Intentions was released, I was 9 years old, so of course it wouldn’t even be a movie I would have known or watched. It found its way onto my radar after I watched…

Is it time we reevaluate this underrated flick? Inkheart was released in 2008, and it was adapted from the fantasy novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke. The main character is a ‘silver tongue’,…

On the surface, rebooting a classic and beloved film seems simple. The narrative, characters and fan base are already there, it is just a matter of updating the individual pieces that are outdated. But there…

I got engaged about a month ago, so when I saw that this movie was celebrating its 10 year anniversary, I thought rewatching it would be a fun thing to do. After all, I first…

It might be sixty years old, but The Hidden Fortress is fun, comedy, and adventure rolled up in an epic package. It is just as good today as when it was first made. A Japanese…

A couple of years ago, as my brothers and I settled in for movie night, we realized we didn’t have an inkling of what to watch. “Let’s settle on genre first,” my brother said, “Comedy?…

Darren Aronofsky is one of the great trickster gods of the modern cinema world. His modus operandi as a filmmaker is to shock, to provoke thought, to search the human psyche, to obliterate his audience’s expectations…

Call me a grinch, but I have to say it: After 50 years, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is not as great as some might have you believe. The story revolves around an inventor, his two children,…

Sliding Doors, though released 20 years ago, is probably a movie that looks familiar to you. It wouldn’t have been a movie you went to see in the cinema, or decided to watch with any…

Filth was released way back in 2013 but after completing my article on the top 10 James McAvoy performances, I decided to re-watch it. If you’ve read any of my posts before, you’ll know I…

Every genre has at least one defining film that comes to mind when thinking of or discussing the genre. When one thinks of Holocaust films, there one film that automatically comes to mind: Schindler’s List.…

About 4 years ago, when I was idly browsing through Facebook, I saw the news about Robin Williams‘ passing. People were posting quotes and images from movies that he had been in, showing us the…

In 1948 The Red Shoes was released, and after seventy years this story about passion that warps into obsession still resonates. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, known as the Archers, directed The Red Shoes, using a Hans…

When I was a kid, I remember watching A Bug’s Life (1998) over and over and over. I had quite the interest in bugs. I used to catch grasshoppers and potato bugs (pill bugs or roly polys…