But there’s a lot of energy and creativity in El Mariachi. Rodriguez has gone on to become a popular and successful director. Watching this film gives you the sense of watching a rock star back when he was in a neighborhood garage band.
Movies
100 Greatest Gangster Films: El Mariachi, #92
by George Anastasia, Glen Macnow
January 26th, 2012
The Mid-Weekly Listicle: Oscar Nominations 2012
by Brett Harrison Davinger
January 25th, 2012
Our thoughts on the Oscar nominations
Movie Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
by Brett Harrison Davinger
January 21st, 2012
But when you wear your heart on your sleeve, you risk the audience recognizing that it’s as fake as the Tin Man’s, and Loud goes so far in the wrong direction that it almost becomes a comedy. By the halfway point, you’re no longer watching the magic act, you’re enjoying the magician fumbling with the deck of cards.
Movie Review: Haywire
by Matthew Newlin
January 21st, 2012
Having already dominated the world of female mixed martial arts (MMA), Carano easily assumes the role of ass-kicking special operative Mallory Kane. Almost like a 21st century “Man With No Name,” Mallory only speaks when absolutely necessary. Carano is surprisingly convincing given she has no acting experience prior to this film.
The Weekly Listicle: Shameless Oscar Bait
by Dan Fields
January 20th, 2012
If Oscar bait works on you, then you’ll treasure the film all your life and hate anyone who speaks a word against it. If not, you will enjoy bitter self-satisfaction every chance you have to snipe at it.
100 Greatest Gangster Films: Year of the Dragon, #93
by George Anastasia, Glen Macnow
January 19th, 2012
Somewhere in the middle of this overwrought and overwritten gangland shoot-’em-up, there is a decent story. But we’re never quite able to get to it. Michael Cimino’s direction of a screenplay that he cowrote with Oliver Stone is full of action. But it’s built around a narrative that makes little sense.
The Best And Worst Movies Of 2011
by Brett Harrison Davinger
January 13th, 2012
A look back at the best and worst movies of 2011 from Brett Davinger and Dan Fields
100 Greatest Gangster Films: New Jack City, #94
by George Anastasia, Glen Macnow
January 12th, 2012
A year after playing the righteous cop out to rid the city of the despicable drug lord in King of New York, Wesley Snipes revisited the urban underworld in Mario Van Peebles’ morality play about the scourge of crack cocaine.
Book Review: The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex: What’s Wrong With Modern Movies? by Mark Kermode
by Jem Bloomfield
January 9th, 2012
His opinions, though held intensely and vocally, are often unpredictable: he has long maintained The Exorcist to be the greatest film ever made, but has also in the past championed the work of Zac Efron and the Twilight franchise, and has recently taken to insisting that Jaws is actually a movie about adultery rather than, say, a large shark.
Movie Review: The Devil Inside
by Julia Rhodes
January 7th, 2012
With a jarringly abrupt termination that is less a conclusion than an obnoxious cliffhanger, we’re given a website to visit to continue following “the Rossi case.” Boos reverberate through the theater. “Come on, you wanted to see this too!” says a boy to his girlfriend as they exit.

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