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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Although it was most fun I’ve had watching a terrible movie in quite some time, how the hell does this movie get a green light?

Early on, it was pointed out by the narrator that Gods of Egypt took place before history began. This should have been a tip-off the typical rules would not apply to this prehistoric whitewashing of Egyptian mythology. However, even if it was, the ridiculousness of Gods of Egypt has to go down in cinematic history as one of the worst films with a budget greater than $100 million. Yet, despite it’s racial insensitivity, pointlessness and overall terribleness, there’s something highly watchable about Gods of Egypt. I guess it’s not farfetched to compare it to when you slow down as you drive past a horrific wreck on the highway. Sure, you have somewhere better to be and you don’t really want to see the carnage but you can’t help but gaze upon the wreck.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: The best film of 2015.

Tonight is Oscar night and at this point, all signs point to The Revenant winning Best Picture. If another film pulls off the upset it will likely be Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road or The Big Short. The rest of the nominees don’t stand much of a chance. This includes the year’s best film: Room.Read More →

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In: 2015, Lists, Weigh In

In a few hours, the Oscar winners will be announced. Earlier this year, we took a stab at predicting the Oscar nominees and didn’t do too bad of a job.

Best Picture (Predicted 8/8 Nominees)

  • The Big Short
  • Bridge of Spies
  • Brooklyn
  • Mad Max: Fury Road
  • The Martian
  • The Revenant
  • Room
  • Spotlight

Who Will Win?

The Revenant

Call it a two horse race between The Revenant and Spotlight with The Big Short lurking in the shadows.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: The most depressing film of 2015 might also be the Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars. Son of Saul is as gripping as it is sad and as hard as it is to watch, Geza Rohrig (who plays Saul) and a well executed script won’t let you turn away.

It’s been about a month since I’ve seen Son of Saul and the ghastly images of Auschwitz and the brutality of the Holocaust are burned into my brain to the point where the mention of the film instantly fills me with sadness and disgust. Holocaust cinema is a genre typically associated with Oscar bait and sometimes tiresome and repetitive. Son of Saul brings a fresh, dark, disturbing perspective that is truly an accomplishment in the genre as it is unlike any other Holocaust film I’ve seen. Furthermore, this is a directorial début for Laszlo Nemes which speaks volumes to the achievement of the film as this isn’t typical of first time efforts.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: If Dr. Frankenstein were a filmmaker and he had Igor steal the brains of every corrupt cop and heist thriller of the last two decades. Triple 9 is corrupt cop/heist karaoke.

Depending on your mood, Triple 9 could be deliciously entertaining trash or disdainfully uneven dreck. On a good day, it’ll be a glorified B-movie oozing machismo and corruption. On a bad day, it’ll be a gratuitously violent copycat of much better films and television shows of the past. It would be surprising if watching Triple 9 reminds you of Heat, Training Day, Reservoir Dogs, The Departed, Sicario and The Wire just to name a few of the films and shows it seemed to be influenced by.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: A glib, ill-humored, unnecessary film that acts as critic porn thanks to the presence of Maggie Smith and it’s unintentional(?) Charlie Kaufman impersonation.

Let’s get this out of the way quickly: I wasn’t a fan of The Lady in the Van. Does Maggie Smith deliver a great performance? Sure. Does that forgive the awful, ill-natured humor at the expense of a homeless woman who lived in a van for 15 years? Not particularly.Read More →

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In: Ranked, Weigh In

We all know January is the worst month for releases but, like the groundhog, the movie industry sometimes doesn’t see it’s shadow and the box office shines bright on some pretty big and sometimes even game changing films. It appears Deadpool is one of those game changers as it dominated for 2 weeks straight at the box office and is shattering records left and right. The question about the success of Deadpool though is, is the movie as good as it’s box office indicates or is it reaping the benefits of great timing. How does Deadpool stack up against the 31 box office kings of February of the last 30 years? Here are all of the box office winners, ranked:Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: A biopic about Jesse Owens shouldn’t move this slow.

There were plenty of fascinating tales throughout the life of Jesse Owens, the track athlete who battled bigotry while becoming an Olympic great. There were plenty of fascinating tales on the periphery of Owens’ life as he came to prominence during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany and a time in the United States where blacks were still not recognized as equals. Unfortunately, Race feels compelled to try and tell them all in 2 hours and 14 minutes. Even more disappointing is the film’s inability to pick something to actually sink it’s teeth into, thus creating a glossy version of a darker story and focusing on Owens’ athletic accomplishments while glancing at the social issues surrounding him.Read More →