The potential long-term consequences of the choices we make come under the microscope in Derek Cianfrance‘s latest film, The Place Beyond the Pines. Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling), a struggling motorcycle stunt rider, finds out that a past lover (Eve Mendes) has a baby boy that he fathered the year before. He decides that he has to […]

Family members involved with crime go back much further in the movies than The Godfather. Conflicts between brothers go back even further than that if you take it all the way to Cain and Abel. These subjects are explored in detail in the poorly named My Brother the Devil. The glamour of easy money from […]

The story is told from both sides but with a heavy bias on the positives.

I know nothing about Scotch whisky. I’ve had it three or four times in my life, and I think I had really good brands based on the assessments of the friends who brought the bottles. Of course, there are many enthusiasts around the world who spend huge amounts of money on the spirits. Whether you […]

The Big Wedding is aseries of loosely connected skits forced together.

Gritty urban settings lend themselves well to crime flicks and heavy dramas. Comedies are rarer. If they pop up in those settings, you can expect a different brand of humor — perhaps more profane or exaggerated. Gimme the Loot firmly establishes its roots in the Bronx and other parts of New York City. I’m split about […]

…makes a strong case for how the system is broken and people suffer as a result.

I had a great time on spring break in Fort Lauderdale back when college kids could get away with almost anything. Ultimately, we never did much damage and certainly didn’t harm the residents. We pretty much stayed to our area of the resort and the tourist bars that were all decked out for spring break. […]

…will get you to laugh and smile in a sort of road trip meshed with a musical comedy.

Tom Cruise stars as a futuristic maintenance man helping to clean up Earth after a devastating war in Oblivion. The year’s 2077 and Earth is a vast wasteland of destruction after an alien race attempted to take it over but ultimately failed. The final battle involved the fateful decision to nuke virtually every square inch […]

I must confess that I’m a huge magic fan. From an early age, I wanted to be a magician, and I was lucky enough to meet Harry Blackstone Jr. backstage when I was at the height of my interest and skills. Over time, I continued to see magic shows as they came through town. I […]

Anthology films win or lose based on the wide variety of the segments and the expectation that there will be some real gems in with the inevitable duds. If you watch such a film with those assumptions in mind, you probably won’t be disappointed. I’m a huge horror fan, so when I heard the title […]