“Money Trap” combined a couple plots that should have been compelling television into an unfortunately average episode. Raylan hunting down a fugitive with a grudge and a porn director associate (Paul Kinsey!) has promise, but it felt like an excuse to show that Raylan still knows his way around a gun (and women). Boyd and…
When I was handed a pair of earplugs as I arrived at the Tivoli, my intention was to wear them throughout. My Bloody Valentine are famously loud live, and this: …only confirmed that earplugs were… recommended. Hearing the first torrential notes of “I Only Said,” I changed my mind and abandoned the flimsy protection to…
I watched Return of the Living Dead Part II hoping for something on par with its gleefully fun predecessor. Let’s see how that worked out, shall we? Original Sequel A cast filled with young adults trying very hard and some genuinely good actors, like Clu Glulager. James Karen, a lot of fun in…
For an episode titled “Boys,” it’s unsurprising that the strongest section of the episode focuses on the men of Girls, and the episode gets a lot of value about exploring the thoroughly weird dynamic between a couple of manchildren: Ray and Adam. Their pathetic little adventure to Staten Island, spurred by a search for Little…
For a while there, it seemed like Community was going to revolutionise television sitcoms. “Modern Warfare” seemed to promise a new age of sitcoms that never quite happened. Those ambitious episodes gobbled up time and money, leaving weaker, less innovative episodes to bracket them. Character growth stagnated, as it tends to in sitcoms. And often,…
Many electronic acts’ live performances are little more than a reproduction of their recorded music combined with insipid banter and flashing lights. The Presets don’t do that. Their live show is actually a show – complete with a perfectly sequenced setlist, reinterpretations of popular tracks and a stage presence born of enthusiasm rather than uninspired…
Margaret, the long-delayed second film from Kenneth Lonergan, expends great effort to feel as real as possible throughout its achingly long three hour running time (I watched the Extended Cut – the Theatrical is “only” 2.5 hours). As the camera gently moves through scenes, the audio often picks up snatches of unrelated conversation, obfuscating the…
“Foot Chase” felt like a return to the “just okay” Justified of season one. It wasn’t a bad episode by any stretch, though; I enjoyed the banter and gradually increasing trust between Raylan and Sheriff Shelby (the more airtime for Jim Beaver, the better). And the suggestion that Josiah might actually be Drew was a…
The Devil’s Rejects is Rob Zombie’s sorta-sequel to House of 1000 Corpses. Its concept is genius: take the psychotic, white trash murder-family from the first film and send them out on the road, pursued by police. Sadly, the execution leaves much to be desired. Zombie abandons the attention-deficit style of 1000 Corpses for a more…
Some horror films succeed thanks to a carefully constructed atmosphere of dread, conveyed through a minimalist soundtrack and disconcerting cinematography. Others succeed with nuanced, subtle performances in a bare-bones, unsettling story. House of 1000 Corpses isn’t one of those films. Its cinematography is all over the place: Zombie knows where to place a camera, but…
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