By Marisa Demarco — Thirteen men were interviewed for Justice Denied, a documentary about rape in the U.S. Armed Forces. They came from many branches of the military, and they ranged in age and ethnicity. And they all told the same tale, says co-director Michael Miller. They were sexually assaulted. They were re-victimized by the … Continue reading »
By Phil Parker — Just like people, movies are more interesting when they don’t fit a particular type. The director Danny Boyle won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, a love / gangster / game-show flick that left us smiling despite hints of pedophilia and torture. 28 Days Later is a modern zombie classic whose key … Continue reading »
By Phil Parker — The budget for the original Evil Dead, from 1981, was $375,000 (according to the Internet). It was directed by Sam Raimi, then 20, and starred Raimi’s high school buddy Bruce Campbell. The budget for the remake, out now, was $14 million. The difference between those figures is where Evil Dead gets … Continue reading »
By Phil Parker —No one gets gutted in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. This is probably a good thing, for obvious reasons, but it makes it easy to miss the harsh existential lesson of this blockbuster man-versus-nature story. Jurassic Park is out now in 3D movie theaters, 20 years after it was first released to the … Continue reading »
By James A. Montalbano — From the DVD files, two takes on teens. And we’re not grading on a curve. Finally, a Christian film with nuance and smarts, worthy of serious consideration. Thank God. The Wise Kids (A-minus) is a sweet, heart-swelling drama centering around three teens in Charleston, S.C., on the brink of adulthood, … Continue reading »
By Marya Errin Jones — I’ve got to hand it to you, Quentin. Django Unchained is an absolute masterpiece. It is as cinematically satisfying as it is raw and brutal. Django is also a fun movie, a little bit Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with a dash of Blazing Saddles—which is needed to balance out … Continue reading »