No Sudden Move (2021) - Movie Review

And now, for the other Steven Soderbergh feature from this year, and indeed my last proper review of 2021. After how far outside the margins he went with Let Them All Talk, I’ll admit to being somewhat relieved that we’re back in more familiar territory this time around. A crime drama set in mid-‘50s Detroit, it starts out as a small-scale hostage thriller, but ends up ballooning out into a much deeper conspiracy involving industrial espionage and (as is usually the case with Soderbergh) a look at capitalism’s lack of ethics.

The French Dispatch (2021) - Movie Review

This might be the first time I’ve been apprehensive about reviewing a film, not because of the film itself, but because I doubt I’d be able to improve upon what a certain other critic has already said about this feature. And here it is: A piece written by Aussie critic Grant Watson that might be the best review I’ve ever read for any movie. The act of critique is built from one’s unique perspective on art and the environment that fosters it, and while I certainly have my own thoughts on this film, part of me is kind of jealous that I wasn’t able to come up with something that all-encompassing on the subject. So, basically, in addition to forcing this write-up through a haze of molten summer brain, I’m also having to fight back the first time I can recall having writer’s envy over another reviewer’s work. I might as well be a character in a Wes Anderson film myself.

Sicario: Day Of The Soldado (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After discovering a possible link between the Mexican cartels controlling the U.S./Mexico border and a string of stateside terrorist attacks, the U.S. government is prepared to take special measures to control the problem. To that ends, CIA agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) brings Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) in to create some chaos among the cartels and, hopefully, put a stop to the terrorists they're smuggling across the border.

Escobar: Paradise Lost (2015) - Movie Review

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, which around here is going to involve keeping a promise I made about a year ago. Back when I reviewed Mockingjay Part 1, I brought today’s film and how I wanted to check it out based on the strength of Josh Hutcherson’s performance. Well, as I inch closer to the end of my December double feature fest, I figure now is as good a time as any to give it a try. This is Escobar: Paradise Lost.

Sicario (2015) - Movie Review

In today’s day and age where people have grown more and more sceptical of their nation’s military and government (rightfully so, in most regards), the question of how they justify their actions has grown in poignancy. This is especially true in the world of entertainment, where the times when propaganda pieces about the 'Red Menace' are long since behind us. There’s a reason why action films involving soldiers rescuing hostages in foreign jungle settings aren’t nearly as prevalent, and it’s not just because they mostly suck the big one: Violence with lack of justification, when it comes to government-sanctioned officers, isn’t nearly as accepted as it once mystifyingly was. One look at the works of Kathryn Bigelow and Clint Eastwood will see this mindset in full force, where actions are constantly brought into question and that lingering question hangs over everyone’s heads. Today, it’s time to dip into that pool once again.