SIFF 2018: 'American Animals' (2018) Movie Review

American Animals is a movie that has an admittedly cool hook—it tells a true story, but along with the dramatization, director Bart Layton (The Imposter) splices in interviews with the real people involved. But like many films with a cool hook, it’s too in love with its own coolness, to the point of distraction. And while it tries to do something different, it’s so hyper-stylized—I counted at least six slow-motion montages set to conspicuously recognizable pop songs—that the stylistics cease to have any substantial impact and it’s not nearly as edgy as it wants to be or thinks it is.

This 'Den Of Thieves' Trailer Looks Like Discount Bin 'Heat'

Why did it take me two full days to watch this Den of Thieves trailer? It’s everything I like: gritty no-frills action, bank robbers, a brutally generic name, Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson, a dude from The Wire (Pablo Schreiber), and a rapper (50 Cent). And it’s the guy who wrote London Has Fallen and A Man Apart making his directorial debut. And it looks like clearance-sale Heat. All of which means it’s just my speed. I knew it was out there, I just slept on it. But don’t worry, I rectified this grievous oversight and all is right with the world.

Steven Soderbergh's 'Logan Lucky' Trailer Is Low-Down And Dirty

Steven Soderbergh and I have very different definitions of retirement. I’m happy for that fact, though, because it means he keeps churning out fantastic work like The Knick and his upcoming hillbilly heist movie, Logan Lucky. We’re still a month-plus out, but this should serve to brighten up an otherwise sparse looking August, and there’s a new trailer to whet your whistle.

'Trance' Movie Review

Dark, brutal, hypnotic; these are a few choice adjectives you could use to describe Danny Boyle’s latest psychological thriller, “Trance.” The “Trainspotting” director is no stranger to this shadowy territory—remember the arm-cutting scene in “127 Hours”—but we’re talking an entirely different level here. At one point the top of a man’s head is blown clean off, yet his mouth keeps talking, and there’s a rotting corpse that’s as horrific as anything you’ll see in the most gruesome horror film. And let us not forget to mention the fingernail pulling and the dick shooting, which are both not to be missed. Not for the squeamish, there’s a gleeful layer of the macabre to this noir tale.

'30 Minutes or Less' Movie Review

“30 Minutes or Less” is a breath of fresh air in what has overall been a stale summer. Director Ruben Fleischer’s follow-up to “Zombieland” is one of the few comedies this season that isn’t trying to be an edgy, raunchy, gross-out fest; and it doesn’t end with some heavy-handed, overly-simplified moralizing that even an idiot boy-child can see through. “30 Minutes or Less” is fun, funny, but also manages to tell a good, surprisingly tense story with solid characters. Who would’ve thought to do that?

DVD Review: 'Clash' (AKA 'Bay Rong')

We’ve been writing about Vietnamese actioner “Clash” (AKA “Bay Rong”) on this site for some time. So long, in fact, that you might notice that the box for the region one DVD that just came out bears a quote from us on the bottom left-hand corner. While “Clash” isn’t blazing any new trails or breaking any new ground, it is pretty much right up our alley. And by that I mean it is a badass crime film full of all out ass-kicking and large-scale gun battles. If that doesn’t sound like a damn fine way to spend a couple of hours, you and I certainly have different tastes, my friend.

'Fast Five' Movie Review

There’s a running theory in my house that The Rock, also known as Dwayne Johnson (sorry buddy, but you’ll always be The Rock to me), and Vin Diesel are actually the same being. Like they’re different versions of the same dude from parallel dimensions, or some sci-fi trope like that. They make similar movies. Couldn’t you imagine Diesel playing the protagonist in “Faster”, or The Rock with silly looking sunglasses bouncing around space in the “Riddick” movies. Even the children’s films they do, like “The Pacifier” (Diesel) and “The Toothfairy” (Rock), could have gone either way. Now before you get your panties in all twisted in a fit of rage and start bombarding the comment section with snarky notes about how I’m obviously a dumbass who has never seen a movie before, I’m just trying to say that I imagine that there are a lot of casting lists in Hollywood with these guys in spots one and two, that’s all.