Over the course of this weekend, the next few weeks, and yes all through this year’s awards season, you’re going to hear a lot about how stunning and brilliant is director Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. Honestly, you’re going to be hearing that steadily for the next 20 to 40 years. There’s no doubt this film—a staggering … More Gravity Floats and Tumbles Very Close to a Being a “Masterpiece”

The new Oscar-bait thriller Prisoners is very well done for the most part, earning enough points with its tightly crafted, nuanced first half to buy its way through a final act that quickly fills up with genre short cuts and over-cooked “this is the work of a crazy person!” tomfoolery. It has plenty of nice, … More Prisoners of Fear

Here’s a truth about science fiction and fantasy fans, myself sometimes included: Even though our beloved genres are purportedly “forward-thinking” and/or “open to flights of limitless imagination,” the majority of these fans–these passionately vocal fan boys and fan girls–tend, like most other human beings, to gravitate toward the familiar, to what they know best and … More To Grow Up or Not to Grow Up: The World’s End and Genre as Nostalgia

For almost a decade, Detroit-born, Chicago-based film maker Joe Swanberg has been one of the leading figures in the micro-budget, naturalistic film movement. The films of the highly prolific Swanberg (15 features in eight years, plus acting in a number his and others’ films, including the horror film You’re Next, also opening today) usually focus … More Interview: Drinking Buddies Writer-Director Joe Swanberg

I was worried that Kick-Ass 2 might come somewhere close to the subversive fun, aesthetic coolness, and philosophically deranged comic-book glee of the first Kick-Ass movie in 2010. You see, all this year I’ve been struggling with gun violence in new mainstream cinema and my attitude toward it. I’m not going to get into all … More Thank God Kick-Ass 2 Stinks So Bad

The first Steve Jobs biopic, Jobs, stars a terrific Ashton Kutcher as the late, mercurial, sometimes unknowable Apple Computer co-founder and visionary genius. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote), the film co-stars Josh Gad (The Book of Mormon, Love and Other Drugs, 1600 Penn) as Jobs’ one-time partner Steve “Woz” Wozniak. Jobs follows Jobs … More Interview: Jobs Co-Star Josh Gad and Director Joshua Michael Stern

Actress Lake Bell’s career in film and television has followed a familiar “outsider” arc. Some may recognize her from various “that girl” character-actor roles, often as the quirky-sexy “best friend” in rom-coms like What Happens in Vegas, It’s Complicated, and No Strings Attached, or from TV shows like Boston Practice and Boston Legal. Meanwhile, fans … More Interview: In a World… Writer-Director Lake Bell

In recent years, writer-director David Gordon Green’s become known for big, profane, anarchic and silly R-rated comedies like Pineapple Express (2008), The Sitter (2011), and Your Highness (2011), starring folks like Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, and Jonah Hill. But amid all the pot jokes and groin punches, it’s easy to forget that prior … More Interview: Prince Avalanche Writer-Director David Gordon Green

Us older sci-fi fans are always bitchin’ and moanin’ about how no one makes science fiction movies about ideas anymore. How it’s all just special effects and big stars and non-stop action. Which is why fan-boys and –girls of a certain age got very excited (probably too excited) about South African writer-director Neill Blomkamp’s debut … More Elysium Shouts Big, Loud Messages About Health Care and Immigration Reform… Gun Control, Not so Much…

I can’t recall a movie that–for better or worse–comes so completely as advertised as Pacific Rim does. If you’ve been looking at the summer marketing and thinking, “Good lord, that looks head-slappingly stupid,” you are correct. Likewise, if you’ve been watching the commercials and thinking, “Ho-lee crap, this looks mess-my-pants awesome,” you are also correct. … More Pacific Rim's Monster-sized Fun