Don’t be surprised if someone tells you they shed a few tears while watching The Dark Knight Rises. The final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s remarkable Batman trilogy ends with a strong emotional punch; it’s not an exaggeration to call the film’s climax an applause-worthy triumph.
TDKR is a bold, ambitious and engrossing epic. Nolan’s interpretation of the Batman myth and Batman’s relationship to the people of Gotham City is spectacularly deep and layered, and TDKR explores those depths and layers for all their worth. [Click to continue and comment]
Bobcat Goldthwait takes aim at the ugly and empty side of pop culture and pulls the trigger, a lot, in his new film God Bless America. Goldthwait’s latest indie feature, his first since the 2009 near-masterpiece World’s Greatest Dad, blends sharp and funny dark comedy with cutting social commentary and endless scenes of gleeful ultraviolence. This is a bright, colorful, whimsical road movie, and if you’ve seen the film’s provocative red band trailer, then you probably have a good idea for what you’re getting into with God Bless America. Read the rest of my review @ Austinist.
Joss Whedon has pulled off a mini miracle — Marvel’s The Avengers is a fun, exciting and sometimes magical superhero flick packed to the gills with heart, humor and bad-assery.
I use the word “miracle” because that’s exactly what The Avengers is. There’s no way a two-and-a-half-hour-long action movie with this much baggage, starring four charismatic Hollywood leading men — plus five or six distinguished supporting players — should be this good. Or make this much sense. Or not feel like an uneven, drawn-out mess. Writer-director Whedon balances everything like a pro, giving each major character just enough depth, conflict and screen time to make us love them all and cheer for them in the end.
[Click to continue and comment]
The Cabin in the Woods isn’t your typical hack-and-slash horror flick, but you probably already know that by now. There are twists and turns, surprising reveals and shocking moments, and horror tropes are applauded, audited, and turned inside out. It’s pretty damn clever, and I’m happy to learn that a movie this good (and this strange) is doing reasonably well at the box office. But here’s the thing I loved best about Cabin in the Woods: It kept me engaged from start to finish. I was never bored, I was never able to guess what would happen next, and I genuinely cared about the characters and their connection to the strange goings on at the heart of the movie.
There aren’t many movies like Cabin in the Woods. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to say there aren’t any movies like Cabin in the Woods. It’s a unique film with many layers and big, bold ideas, and it kept me intrigued right up to its shocking and hilarious conclusion. Not everything works, but most of it does. And even the few missteps are fun to watch. Director Drew Goddard and writer Joss Whedon (who collaborated on Whedon’s groundbreaking genre TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) have made a fun, engrossing and suspenseful horror flick that dubs as a smart commentary and celebration of the horror genre (and the horror movie audience). The movie works on several levels, delivering almost everything you’d expect to see in a teen horror movie while subverting the expectations of both gore hounds and casual moviegoers.
[Click to continue and comment]
