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<em>The Sessions</em> And The Trap Of The Disease-Of-The-Week Movie
All genres have their trademarks. In romantic comedies, the two meet, fall in love, break up, and then wind up together. In action movies, a lot of ass is kicked, then more ass is kicked, and then at the end, a hell of a lot of ass is kicked. That predictability isn't always a bad thing—after all, w...
This Isn't Your Life: On the Brilliant, Trippy <em>Holy Motors</em>
We like to believe that we're the masters of our own destinies, that our lives are ours to do with as we wish. But in reality, that's not true. We behave differently around our bosses than we do around our friends. Even as grown-ups, we still revert to childish tendencies when we're around our paren...
Less Is More: How The <em>Paranormal Activity</em> Movies Got Better With Each Sequel
Sequels are almost never as good as the original movie, so it's a downright miracle when a franchise gets better as it goes along. It's hard to think of many that achieved that feat, but here's one you may not have considered: The Paranormal Activity series....
Hooray For <em>Sinister</em>, A Horror Movie That's Actually Good
For a genre that remains a Hollywood staple, horror doesn't get much respect. If a film isn't screened in advance for critics, it's usually a horror movie. Although they dominate Halloween, they're also the movies that get dumped at the deadest corners of the release calendar: January and late Augus...
Bennifer No More: Ben Affleck's Amazing Comeback
The Academy Awards aren't until February, but as far as Roger Ebert is concerned, we already know who's going to take home the big prize. "The winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture will be Ben Affleck's tense new thriller Argo," he wrote on September 10, not because he thinks it's the best mo...
God Bless Liam Neeson, He Sure Does Try. <em>Taken 2</em>, Reviewed.
If you liked the first Taken, it was probably because of Liam Neeson. With that unlikely hit, the Oscar-nominated actor established himself as a tough-guy action star, a development that was surprising not because he's a bad fit for the role but, rather, because he proved really adept at it. Anyone ...
Welcome Back, "30 For 30": In Praise Of ESPN's Documentary Series
When Will Leitch started Deadspin, his guiding principal—beyond a belief that he could get the whole world to refer to the Arizona Cardinals as the Buzzsaw—was that sports, in the grand scheme of things, aren't that important. Yes, there's lots of money spent on them, and when your team wins the Wor...
Always Be Posing: What 20-year-old <em>Glengarry Glen Ross</em> Can Teach Us About Manhood
There's a certain type of masculinity we're used to seeing on screen. John Wayne, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham: big, taciturn dudes who won't put up with any weakness in others and certainly not in themselves. They're not just muscular and powerful, though—they're heroic, saving the day and ...
The Anti-KStew: In Praise Of Jennifer Lawrence
There are many ways to tell if you've become a popular actress. Your name appears above the title on the poster. You're on the covers of magazines. You get an Oscar nomination. Those are all pretty great things. Then, there are those other ways of finding out that you're popular. These are a lot les...
Kill ’Em All. <em>Dredd</em>, Reviewed.
Even a truly morally reprehensible, super-violent movie has its place in the culture. I'm not talking about a film like Dark Knight Rises, which in the wake of the Aurora shootings was the subject of our most recent cultural spasm over Hollywood violence. That was actually a thoughtful, artistic com...
Toronto Film Festival: In Praise Of The Shamelessly Trashy <em>Spring Breakers</em>
For the past week, Grierson has been at the Toronto Film Festival seeing the movies we're all going to be talking about for the next few months. Today is his second of two dispatches....
Toronto Film Festival: Who Cares That Terrence Malick's <em>To The Wonder</em> Is Minor?
For the past week, Grierson has been at the Toronto Film Festival seeing the movies we're all going to be talking about for the next few months. Today is his first of two dispatches....
Paul Thomas Anderson: Waiting For <em>The Master</em>
In late July, the Weinstein Company announced it would be releasing The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie, on September 14, which is early for an Oscar candidate. Most Best Picture nominees come out no sooner than October so that they're as fresh as possible in voters' minds. Nonetheless, the...
<em>Keep The Lights On</em>: The Year's Best Unhappy Love Story
Hollywood makes a lot of love stories in which the couple end up happily ever after, but the ones that endure tend to be those where the opposite is true. Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, Annie Hall—love doesn't conquer all in any of these movies, and they stay with us because they play into our shar...
Five Labor Day Weekend Movies That Aren't Completely Terrible
You're not going to the movies on Labor Day weekend, are you? Hollywood assumes you aren't. Unlike Memorial Day or Independence Day or Christmas or even Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this holiday weekend is perennially stacked with losers, the films that the studios don't want to think about anymore. ...
Life After Legolas: What Should Orlando Bloom Do With His Career Now?
Lots of actors struggle for years to be discovered, building up a résumé of small, well-regarded roles before hitting the big time. Orlando Bloom is doing it in reverse. Fresh from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he jumped into The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, starring in t...
Shia LaBeouf Wants You To Take Him Seriously
Being successful sure is nice, but what everybody really wants is to be taken seriously. Whether it's Woody Allen following up Annie Hall with the dour Interiors, George Michael turning away from the pop stardom of Faith for the confessional Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, or Robin Williams decidin...
Mike Birbiglia's <em>Sleepwalk With Me</em> And The Art (And Agony) Of Stand-Up Comedy
I'm in awe of stand-up comics....
Interview With The Vampire. <em>Cosmopolis</em> (Starring Robert Pattinson), Reviewed.
Rage is rarely cold. Whether it's the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street or Network, discontent with the state of the world usually comes to us piping hot, often satisfyingly so. That's why it's so disconcerting when a movie goes the opposite route, serving up its message with a calm, dispassionate air...
Did The Wrong Thing. Spike Lee's <em>Red Hook Summer</em>, Reviewed.
Spike Lee is such a confident filmmaker that when one of his movies doesn't quite work, you almost wonder if it's your fault for not getting it. Secure in his talent for sweeping emotions and powerful visuals, he sets out to make a masterpiece with each new movie, and the worst thing you can say abo...