I’ve had an interesting relationship with The Hunger Games film series. The first (and titular) entry caught my attention for bringing Suzanne Collins’ dystopian world to such initially vibrant life, but director Gary Ross’ shaky camerawork kept me from lauding the film too heavily. Francis Lawrence took up the directing reigns afterward, and crafted Catching Fire into a […]
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
I didn’t know how to react to Mockingjay – Part 1. I remember feeling strangely ambivalent. I was entirely unmoved for the two hours I spent in the theater. After thinking about the film for a week or so, I realize that I felt cheated. This is because Mockingjay, Part 1 isn’t a movie; it’s a glorified advertisement for […]
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Acting “Master” Class
The late Philip Seymour Hoffman was without question one of the greatest actors of his generation. Through his performances, he provided the ideal model of what a good screen actor should be. As with any actor, much of that quality came from the directors he worked with. But I would argue that his performances go […]
A Most Wanted Man
Murky water sloshes quietly against a stone wall. The scene is peaceful with nothing but the quite ebb and flow of the river to break the silence. Suddenly, a disturbance: the water starts to rise and fall, angrily smashing against the stones. But no matter how hard it pushes, the wall stands unmoved. The opening shot of A Most […]
Conversations with Critics over Champagne
Red carpet, press wall, hors d’oeuvres. This was it, my first real film event: the New York City premiere of Life Itself. I’d trekked down from Connecticut through a snowy New York jungle to see the movie for a second time. But as excited as I was for the film, I knew the real treat […]
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The first Hunger Games movie pissed me off. It feels like that playing in free bet websites is more worth my time than watching that movie. Series author Suzanne Collins helped pen the film’s script herself, but the adaptation was troublingly devoid of the substance that made the book so great. Perhaps the best thing […]
Søren and J’s Oscarcast 2013
If you were following us on Twitter (and you should be), you’ve already seen bits and pieces of thoughts from the Movie Fail staff on this year’s Oscars ceremony this past Sunday. In this podcast, Josh and I cover everything from the Rhythm and Hues protests to Seth MacFarlane as we discuss the event. Give […]
Who Is The Master?
I have heard several different evaluations from my peers of Paul Thomas Anderson’s most recent film, The Master; from staunch support to outright dismissal, opinions certainly seem divided. But as someone who was not anticipating The Master with any great excitement, I came away pleasantly surprised. Because of this, I feel that I should illustrate why the film deserves a […]
The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson is a director who thrives on being pensive. This, unfortunately, tends to clash with his directorial style. His stories often feel like twigs strewn across a body of water, loosely tied together by vague ideas and tangential connections. Sometimes that underlying body of water is a puddle, shallow and superficial, while at […]
