'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' (2017) Movie Review

People are complicated creatures. We’re all capable of cruelty and kindness, anger and compassion. Everyone’s part good, everyone’s part shit. It’s this internal dichotomy that drives Martin McDonagh’s pitch-black comedy/drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and it’s why his characters are more complex and authentic than those we often find on screen. They’re brutally flawed, but devastatingly human. It doesn’t hurt that the phenomenal cast all give career best performances, or at least damn close.

'Poltergeist' Movie Review

1982’s Poltergeist is one of those movies that scared the hell out of you when you’re a kid. Maybe you’ve watched it a bunch of times since then, maybe you only have lingering memories of being traumatized by that little blond girl saying, “They’re heeerrree.” Regardless of your feelings, it’s the latest on chopping block to get the remake treatment, and as is so often the case in these situations, the first question that springs to mind is, why? And in this case, that’s an especially necessary question to ask.

This Trailer For The 'Poltergeist' Remake Proves That Little Kids Are Still Scary As Hell

Little kids are creepy as shit. Even as a little kid I knew this was one of the essential truths of the world, which is a big part of why Poltergeist is straight up terrifying. Who knows if the Sam Raimi-produced remake will be any good, but this first trailer does a good job sending a few chills up your spine. Also, if you have an aversion to scary clowns, probably sit this one out.

Blu-Ray/DVD Review: 'A Single Shot'

David M. Rosenthal’s film A Single Shot, now on Blu-ray from Well Go USA, may very well usher in a new subgenre that’s best be described as backwoods mumble noir. Full of all kinds of aw-shucks shoe-gazing, sudden violence, and a gradually unspooling mystery, the title definitely seems to fit. When John Moon (Sam Rockwell), recently separated from his wife and child, accidentally kills a  young woman while poaching deer, it kicks off a downward spiral of bloodshed and retribution that bears comparison to movies like No Country for Old Men, A Simple Plan, and Winter’s Bone. 

'Seven Psychopaths' Movie Review

Writer/director Martin McDonagh’s new film, “Seven Psychopaths”, has everything a dude wants out of a movie. It’s awash in violence, booze, laughter, dog thievery, and the titular madmen. Emphasis on the men. At one point, the protagonist, Marty (Colin Farell), a busted Irish screenwriter, is accused of only writing female characters so they can be killed off later. That charge has been leveled at McDonagh a time or two. We’re talking a testosterone-fueled, pseudo-road movie with a story that’s smart, quick-witted, and self-referential. Pulling off stories within stories, films within the film, the narrative is an endlessly inventive, looping spiral of dark humor, blood, and earnest emotion.