When most critics and film nerds speak enthusiastically about the films Harold Ramis has written or directed, they usually wax nostalgic for comedies like Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Stripes, Animal House, or Groundhog Day. There’s good reason to celebrate those films, they are all legitimately funny and hold up today when many comedies from the late ‘70s […]
Written by Larry Cohen Considering Larry Cohen’s ability to coax strong performances out of his casts at the same time that he embraced the absurdity of his often ridiculous, lurid plots, it’s not a surprise that his scripts, when directed by others, would result in the occasional bad movie. That Sidney Lumet, one of the […]
I suppose it’s almost a miracle that writer/producer/director Jake Kasdan is still allowed to make movies. From Zero Effect to Freaks and Geeks to Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Kasdan has brought his apparent jinx to several films and TV series over the past fifteen years. Perhaps he’s still allowed to work because the […]
The Robber, one of the better movies I saw at last year’s Chicago International Film Festival (and one that I certainly did not expect to get a U.S. theatrical release), is opening this week in New York City theaters. I’m not sure if it will expand to other cities in the coming weeks, but if […]
Hanna has been marketed as a cross between an art house film and an action flick. While the film definitely boasts a more interesting and eclectic cast than most action movies, it eventually does nothing more than borrow bits and pieces from The Bourne Identity, Run Lola Run, and Léon. This lack of originality doesn’t […]
Super is the type of movie that thrills me by its very existence. It’s a whacked-out burst of intelligent, inventive filmmaking that does a great job of juggling wildly shifting tones while never forgetting where the heart of its story rests. I watched the film with a huge smile on my face as writer-director James […]
I just became interested in the new Superman movie. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Michael Shannon has been cast to play General Zod. I’m not a comic book guy at all, so I can’t tell you how the character fits into the world of Superman. I have a vague memory of Terence Stamp playing the […]
Sidney Lumet, maybe the greatest American filmmaker of the second half of the 20th century, has died at the age of 86. I won’t even try to write an obituary for such a brilliant director. For those of you interested or who need a primer on his life and work, the New York Times has […]
Screen Story by Larry Cohen How many film adaptations of Jack Finney’s The Body Snatchers are needed? By the time Body Snatchers was released in 1993 (after sitting on the shelf for roughly two years), there had been two official adaptations and numerous films that had taken inspiration (ripped off) from Finney’s yarn about alien […]
Be forewarned, if the MPAA rated this post, it would get an R. Ah, The King’s Speech, the classy little drama about King George VI (Colin Firth) attempting to overcome a speech impediment in time to symbolically lead Great Britain during World War II (I say symbolically because the King of England hasn’t wielded any […]
Obsessive Movie Nerd 