The Prestige is a magical psychological thriller about a pair of feuding magicians with no shortage of edge-of-your-seat suspense. Christopher Nolan reteams with a number of his usual department heads as he reunites with his Batman Begins stars Christian Bale and Michael Caine for an adaptation of Christopher Priest’s (not to be confused with the comic book writer) 1995 novel. Nolan would adapt the script with his brother, Jonathan, for a number of years before…
"The Prestige: A Magical Psychological Thriller"Category: Movie Reviews
Insomnia is the third feature film for filmmaker Christopher Nolan and gives him a bigger playground with a trio of Oscar winners. This is the only film in Nolan’s career that he didn’t write. One, it is a remake of an earlier Norwegian film. Two, Nolan has his first studio film and a medium-sized budget. Slowly but surely, everything is coming into place for taking his career to the next level with The Dark Knight…
"Insomnia: Another Christopher Nolan Psychological Thriller"
Christopher Nolan’s sophomore feature, Memento, may confuse audiences with its non-linear narrative but it’s every bit as thrilling. Christopher Nolan wrote his own screenplay for Memento while brother Jonathan Nolan penned the short story. They were writing their own versions at the same time. This resulted in Christopher Nolan finishing the film prior Jonathan Nolan’s story being published. The film sticks to the same non-linear form of storytelling that Nolan used in Following. In this…
"Memento: A Non-Linear Psychological Thriller"
Before Christopher Nolan moved onto blockbuster tentpoles, the filmmaker premiered Following during a 1998-99 festival run. Following is clearly in the vein of low-budget filmmaking. Because of the limited resources available, they only shot the film on weekends for nearly a year. While Nolan had written the neo-noir crime thriller chronologically, one can see how Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction would later influence the decision to edit into a non-linear story. It’s a…
"Following – The First Christopher Nolan Feature"
The Mosquito Coast features what could very well be the most unlikable character ever portrayed on screen by Harrison Ford. When I saw that Hoopla had a new-to-me Harrison Ford film in their catalog, I decided to give it a watch. After all, the film reteams Ford and filmmaker Peter Weir one year after they teamed up for Witness. This film is not even in the same league as Witness and it’s the main reason why…
"The Mosquito Coast: Harrison Ford In An Unlikable Role"
Coinciding with Oppenheimer, To End All War: Oppenheimer & The Atomic Bomb follows the rise and fall of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. I went into this documentary with the thought that it would be around 40-44 minutes long. Instead, it is a feature-length documentary running about 87 minutes long. Regardless, it is a very informative and insightful documentary should one wish to learn about the scientist prior to seeing the film. I can also say…
"To End All War: Oppenheimer & The Atomic Bomb"
The Out-Laws is the newest comedy film to be launched by Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison, on Netflix. I found myself laughing a number of times while watching the press screener in my apartment. There’s a part of me that wonders just how many more laughs there would be in a shared communal setting. It’s so hard launching a comedy in theaters these days. People will watch Joy Ride if they’re going out this…
"The Out-Laws: The New Happy Madison Comedy Launches On Netflix"
Joy Ride is a raunchy laugh riot that will leave audiences hurting from how hard they’ve been laughing throughout the film. Between No Hard Feelings, Joy Ride, and Bottoms, it’s already a good summer for the raunchy comedy. I’ve seen all three of them and it makes you wonder why studios are not releasing them more often. The latter two films premiered at SXSW, which is a great festival to launch this kind of film.…
"Joy Ride: A Raunchy Laugh Riot"
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the best Mission: Impossible film yet as the franchise launches the seventh film. We’re getting deeper into the franchise, which begs the question: in what way will Tom Cruise outdo himself on the stunt front? Cruise is always seeking to push the boundaries in terms of stunts. We saw this during his free climb of Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol even though he was safely attached to…
"Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Is The Best One Yet"
The Truman Show–nominated for three Academy Awards–marks this past June’s 25th anniversary by arriving on 4K Ultra HD. Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) is just an ordinary guy. However, his life put to the test when he discovers the world around him is not what it seems. Everything changes when his dead father suddenly comes back to life. That’s not the only thing. Fate has it out for the man because it is impossible to leave…
"The Truman Show Marks 25th Anniversary With 4K Ultra HD"