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.

This article is filed under 100 Greatest Gangster Films, Hispanic American, Movies, The Fourth Wall.

Our thoughts on the Oscar nominations

This article is filed under Movies, The Fourth Wall.

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.

This article is filed under Movies, Movies & TV.

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.

This article is filed under Movies, Movies & TV.

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.

This article is filed under Death, Disability, Movies, The Fourth Wall.

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.

This article is filed under 100 Greatest Gangster Films, Asian American, Movies, The Fourth Wall.

A look back at the best and worst movies of 2011 from Brett Davinger and Dan Fields

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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.

This article is filed under 100 Greatest Gangster Films, African American, Movies, The Fourth Wall.

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.

This article is filed under Books, Movies, Non-Fiction Reviews.

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.

This article is filed under Movies, Movies & TV.