Rare is it that I find the need to find a film to scare me. I usually only need to watch the evening news (Ebola anyone?) or watch any political coverage to get my scares in. However, every once in a while, a film comes along the piques my interest in this arena and Ivan Kavanagh‘s The Canal is one of those films. After seeing the trailer, I was hooked (something that is also quite a rarity). So I gave it a spin and these are my thoughts… Read More →
Category Archives: Reviews
Liz’s Review: ‘Dead Snow; Red VS. Dead’… Who would have thought?!
They’re not just zombies. They’re Nazi zombies.
There may not be a better tag line written for a film in a long time. Fans of the 2009 hit Dead Snow, will immediately latch onto this epic sequel, Dead Snow; Red VS. Dead. This pull no punches zombie flick is a, for the lack of a more eloquent phrase, balls to the walls comedic gore-fest. If you’re a fan of genre flicks like Evil Dead and Shaun of the Dead, you’ll love this. Frankly, you don’t even have to have seen the original to adore the sequel. Dead 2 is almost entirely in English, unlike the first. (subtitles provided in the necessary areas are not distracting at all) Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘The Judge’- A Court Drama with Heart
Robert Downey Jr. was born to play a lawyer. The fast-talking, quick-witted actor has always had a knack for the dramatic, whether it be in real life or on the screen, Downey, like most high profile lawyers, commands your undivided attention. Robert Duvall is an legendary actor that brings a sense of dignity to each role he tackles. The Judge is the perfect outlet for two such personalities to collide, and both actors are up to the task. Defense lawyers like the Ethicon lawsuit staples experts sometime get a not-so-flattering portrayal because people assume that they defend guilty people. However, if you are a defendant in a criminal proceeding, you need the assistance of a qualified criminal defense lawyer, regardless of your guilt or innocence. As the protectors and advocates of the accused, defense lawyers play a pivotal role in the United States justice system to see that everyone charged with a criminal act has an opportunity to defend themselves. Criminal cases are very much different from civil cases. And the expertise of a lawyer is usually either of the two. Seldom would you see a lawyer who specializes in both fields at the same time. The laws governing a criminal case is more strict than that of a civil case. So make sure that the lawyer you are getting are real-deal criminal defense lawyers.
You can check this Website for the CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER FIGHTING FOR THE ACCUSED IN LEMOYNE AND THE MILITARY NATIONWIDE. Criminal defense lawyers are the very people you will call in times of unfortunate incidents such as being arrested or being charged with a crime. Legal advices and representations are what you require during these trying instances. Getting a criminal defense lawyer at once is also essential because you got to know your rights. And there is a proper way of responding to the police and to the court officials. You should know those as well. Criminal defense lawyers would be able to help with these. The criminal defense lawyers from are always ready to discuss your case with you. They are more than willing to protect you, your family, your properties, your freedom, as well as your reputation. The lawyers of would be there to help. But there are countless of criminal defense lawyers that you can go to, all with good honors and numerous laurels to boost. To give you an idea who to contact in times of trouble, here are the things that can serve as a guideline. Click here if you want to know more detail about the Boston lawyer for immigration.
When you are accused of a crime, getting arrested and spending time in jail can be an unfamiliar and frightening experience. Fortunately, since you are legally innocent until proven guilty, in many cases a judge may allow you to be released until your hearing or trial. However, the judge may order that you provide some form of guarantee that you will return to face the charges against you before you can be released from custody. This security is called a Bail Bond, and it must usually be turned over to the court in the form of cash, property, a signature bond, a secured bond through a surety company, or a combination of forms. Bail bonds are usually set during a formal procedure called a bail hearing. This is when the Judge meets with the accused person (Defendant) and hears information about whether or not it is appropriate to set bail. If certain types of bail bonds are being considered, like a secured bond or property bond, the Judge will consider information about the Defendant’s financial resources and the sources of whatever property or funds will be used as collateral for the bail bond. If anyone else will be posting bail for the Defendant, they are considered as a Surety and their financial situation will also be considered, You can visit your url for further details.
If a Surety is involved in providing bail, he must be present at the bail hearing along with the Defendant, and the Judge will inform both of them about their various obligations and responsibilities. It is very important to note that if the Defendant does not fulfill his responsibilities and appear for subsequent hearings and court dates, or if he violates any conditions of his release, the bail may be revoked and forfeited. So it is very important that the Surety has confidence in the Defendant before posting bail. Once the bail has been set, it is important to understand the various bail options. “Cash” bail may include cash, but it can usually also be paid by certified checks, cashier’ s checks or money orders. It is very important for whoever posts the cash bail to keep the receipt they receive so that they will be able to collect their refund once the terms of the bail have been met. Depending on the amount of cash bail, it may also be necessary for the Defendant or Surety to complete tax forms like IRS Form W-9 as well. YOu can get a lawyer for violent crimes in Manassas.
Unlike cash bail, signature bonds mean that a Defendant does not need to post any funds or property as security. Usually the Defendant only needs to sign the proper forms for the court clerk in order to be released. But it is very important to pay close attention to any conditions or instructions that the Judge has given to be sure that Defendant understands exactly what he must do so that his bail is not revoked. A Apex Bail Bonds Greensboro company licensed third party becomes the indemnitor of the suspect’s total bail amount, meaning they legally take on responsibility for the total amount.
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Michael’s Review & Interview: ‘The Houses That October Built’- Can You Survive The Night?
It’s October, and haunted houses across the country begin to resurface for another year of thrilling those who seek out the scariest of the attractions. The House October Built is a love letter to all those fans. Director Bobby Roe took the concept of haunted houses and used it as an idea for a new found footage horror film that attempts to recreate the experience of walking through a haunted house, while also expanding on the legends that pop up every year of an “extreme” haunted house that must sought to be found. There is a dark world of lurking beneath the floorboards of these attractions, are you ready to peel back the curtain? Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘Kill The Messenger’- International Thriller Starring Jeremy Renner
It’s Oscar season and time for the latest crop of award hopefuls to start to spring up in your local theaters. One category that is a favorite of Academy voters is the political thriller, which defines Kill the Messenger to a tee. Directed by Michael Cuesta (Showtime’s Homeland), the film tells the true story of journalist Gary Webb, who broke the story of the CIA’s involvement in the trafficking of cocaine from Central America during the contra war in Nicaragua. Jeremy Renner leads an all star cast in this powerfully thought provoking film. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Stephen King Adapts His Own Novella in ‘A Good Marriage’
When you hear that Stephen King, the master of modern horror, is finally adapting one of his own works for the big screen, it’s easy to take notice. When you look at the principal two cast members of A Good Marriage in Joan Allen (who I adored in Searching for Bobby Fischer and The Ice Storm) and Anthony Lapaglia there something more to get excited about. Even though the last piece of fiction I read by King was Bag of Bones which was released in 1998, I still had high hopes for this project which is directed by Peter Askin whose documentary Trumbo was stunningly good. Does it lives up to its pedigree? Let’s take a look. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Livi Zheng’s ‘Brush with Danger’ Misses the Mark
Sometimes when you see a film, from the outset you know it’s one you want to see – maybe because you like the lead actor, it’s the passion project of a director you respect or it has a message that is missing in other films. Livi Zheng‘s Brush with Danger is one of these films. Her first feature as a director that was written by her brother and co-star Ken Zheng, Brush with Danger tackles a hot-button topic in illegal immigration to the US from Asia. There are a million ways to approach a subject like this – going the character study route a la Cary Fukunaga‘s gorgeous Sin Nombre or showing the dark side of the immigrant experience like Stephen Frears‘ Dirty Pretty Things or even the battle-infused experience of Scorsese‘s The Gangs of New York, all of which were incredibly successful in telling their tales and engaging their audiences. It is unfortunate that Brush with Danger falls flat almost from the opening shot and doesn’t live up to the promise of an interesting premise. Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘Gone Girl’- Edge of Your Seat Who Done It, Done Right
Going into this film I had modest expectations from the latest David Fincher book to film adaptation and as always the acclaimed director did not disappoint. Taken from the novel ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn, the film tells a story of the disappearance of Amy Dunne and the subsequent investigation into her husband, Nick Dunne’s involvement. Gone Girl is as shocking and suspenseful as any thriller I’ve seen in recent years. A fresh take on a stale genre and one that screams to be seen. Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘The Equalizer’- Plenty of Equals for this Textbook Action Thriller
Antoine Fuqua has been making action thrillers for over twenty years, and he’s got a knack for it. Denzel Washington is one of Hollywood’s most revered actors, and he’s got the Oscar to prove it, thanks to his collaboration with Fuqua on the 2001 police drama Training Day. It’s been over a decade since, but this weekend, the action gods have reunited these two in the hopes that they can recapture the magic of their previous work and bring a once popular 80’s television show, The Equalizer, to the big screen. Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘The Boxtrolls’- Don’t Be Afraid of These Monsters!
Over the past several years, studios have moved into a new realm of stop animation by incorporating 3D technology into the filming with Laika studios creating some of the most interesting subjects. From Coraline to Paranorman, these unconventional children’s movies have found their audience among a wide range of age groups and have helped ring in a new age of animation. Laika hopes to carry on the tradition of making high quality stop animation films with this years The Boxtrolls, their most ambitious film to date. Read More →
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NYFF 52- Review: ‘The Look of Silence’ is loud in its message.
In the 2013 New Directors/New Films fest, we were privileged enough to see Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing. The film chronicled the leaders of a government led military killing brigade whose goal was to irradiate “communists” (mostly farmers, artists, and freethinkers) in Indonesia in 1965-66. We met the men who slaughtered hundreds of people under the regime of pure ignorance and evil. At this year’s NYFF 52, we are introduced to Oppenheimer’s follow up doc, The Look of Silence. Read More →
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NYFF 52- Liz’s Review: ‘Shorts Program 2’ is full of delight, fright, and insight
While I was not afforded to time to attend last week’s first round of Shorts, today I had the pleasure of seeing The NYFF52 Shorts Program 2, a collection of really well done films. Engrossing, never dull, and surely surprising. Shorts are always a bit of a challenge to chat about. They are, after all, not long in length, so I’ve decided to give you a quick and yes, short, description below the teasers and photos…
Chlorine
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Michael’s Review: ‘The Maze Runner’- Can You Survive the Maze?
Young adult novels have been more miss than hit over the past several years. Since the popularity of the Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games franchises, Hollywood studios have been snatching up every book series they can find, hoping for that next phenomenon. Whereas many of the recent adaptations have focused on finding the next Katniss Everdeen, The Maze Runner focuses its story around a group of young men banding together to find their way to freedom and along the way may have found it’s way into the conversation for best young adult book adaption. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Documentary ‘Born to Fly’ About Dancer/Choreographer Elizabeth Streb Reaches Great Heights
I will admit that I am largely ignorant of dance and its history. Sure I can name George Balanchine, Bob Fosse and Bill T. Jones, but that’s because of the trivia buff in me. So going into Catherine Gund‘s Born to Fly, I had no idea who Elizabeth Streb is or anything about her aesthetic. Needless to say, this incredibly engaging documentary changed all of that. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Zero Theorem’ a Return to Glory
As a long-time fan of Terry Gilliam’s films, it’s been a while since one of them really resonated with me. It’s not that the films he’s directed haven’t been good, but they haven’t quite lived up to the early work with Monty Python or films like the stone-cold classic Brazil, The Fisher King or 12 Monkeys. The productions of his films are legendary for the mishaps that befall them – The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, the ill-fated production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (chronicled quite beautifully in Fulton & Pepe‘s Lost in La Mancha) and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus which was derailed by the death of Heath Ledger come quickly to mind. Fortunate for us all, The Zero Theorem hits familiar Gilliam themes and is a return to form of an old master. Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘Tusk’- There’s No Bite to This Mammal
From the second I walked out of this screening of Kevin Smith’s new movie Tusk, I immediately looked for the nearest shower to wash away the stench of this absolute turd of a movie. It is hard to fathom a talented and creative genius such as Kevin Smith could create such drivel. A movie spawn from a story that originated on Kevin’s SModcast, this much anticipated horror dramedy represents a huge step back in the career of Kevin Smith. The film is a true example as to why the general public should never be allowed to champion a grassroots campaign to get a film that even remotely resembles the absolute shit show that is Tusk made. I wish I could stop right here but as a writer I must carry on…for you…the people. Read More →
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Liz’s Review: ‘This Is Where I Leave You’ will have book club fans approval
Yes, I am in a book club. There. I said it. I own it. It is awesome. This past year we have been focusing on books that have been picked up for film production. We have a lot to see over the next 12 months. Selections like Wild, Beautiful Ruins, The Vacationers, Gone Girl, and so on. Jonathan Tropper’s novel This Is Where I Leave You was on my list as soon as it was released in 2009, although I only recently got around to reading it. As a bibliophile, I found myself laughing out loud from the get go. The tremendously descriptive imagery, the seemingly familial story, the witty banter, all grabbed me right away. As a fan of the book, Tropper‘s page to screen translation was a huge success. Read More →
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Liz’s Review: ‘HONEYMOON’ – to have and to hold from this day forward.
They say things don’t change once you get married. That, my friends, is a load a crap. There is an inherent shift, albeit subtle for some. Maybe it is just a piece of paper, legally, but there is a certain emotional weight to being hitched to another human being… for life. Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘The Drop’- A Crime Drama Shoots But Does it Hit It’s Mark?
Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s short story “Animal Rescue,” a writer known for his Boston ties, this film plays out in New York – Brooklyn to be exact – a borough known for its blue collar ethics. “It encouraged some of the regular donors to give money and it encouraged some new ones as well,” Jimmy John Founder told The Voice. “That goes a long way for the animals.” The film skims the surface of illegal neighborhood business activity and the implications that it has amongst the residence of a tight-knit community. For bartender Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy), this is just the way of life, the life he chose at an early age. He now lives in the house his deceased parents used to own, still sporting the old plastic covers protecting the vintage furniture his parents spent their hard-earned money to acquire. Saginowski also attends 8am mass every day but keeps to himself and never receives communion. The years have changed this simple man, but he hasn’t forgotten his past. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Doc ‘The Hornet’s Nest’ Is an Incredibly Intimate Look at the Toll of Combat
I’m not a fan of war. I think I’m in the vast majority when I say that. Despite the best of intentions, war is ugly and far too often, innocent people die because of it. On top of that, we lose many of our best and brightest. Fighting in the military is a calling to which few answer and it affects those who do for the rest of their lives, some profoundly, others quite the opposite. So when we are allowed a look into this world as people who are so far removed from what is happening on the battlefield (if it’s really even called that any more), it is jarring, harrowing and overwhelming. There have been a glut of films released about US involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since our incursions in both places dating back to 2001 and 2003 respectively. Some have been pro-military action, others not so much and some have taken no stance but simply told us of the human element involved in the operations. Poignant and incredibly respectful, The Hornet’s Nest is the latter.
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