Films That Matter
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While viewing today’s movie, a quote revolving around The Doors and their band name popped into my head, “There are things you know about and things you don't, the known and the unknown, and in between are the doors – that's us”. With links to Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perceptions, and before that the even more apropos William Blake’s 18th century poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, one line from it reads, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.” It only seems fitting that this rather abstract lineage which discusses both reality and exploring expanded consciousness somehow links to the sci-fi psychological horror film Backrooms (2026), co-written and directed by 20 year old Kane Parsons.
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Rag-Tag Team Rocks Through the Galaxy
Guardians of the GalaxyJanuary 8, 2016The anti-hero, who can be described as a vital character that lacks typical heroic qualities, has been a staple of both film and television over the past several years. Actors like Hugh Laurie, who created the iconic game-playing character House and Johnny Depp, who modelled his likeable yet sketchy pirate Jack Sparrow after Keith Richards, are just two examples of the moral ambiguity that comes with many a character nowadays. Perhaps a recent film that best exemplifies this term is when a group of rag-tag criminals come together to save multiple worlds in Marvel’s 2014 space action adventure flick Guardians of the Galaxy.
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The Nostalgia is Strong With This One
Star Wars: The Force AwakensJanuary 3, 2016Star Wars: The Force Awakens has taken the world by storm. Before I wrote this review, I wanted to watch the film for a second time in a theatre – this time, in 2D, yet it was sold out more than two weeks after its opening night.
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Wick Lights the Fuse
John WickDecember 21, 2015Every once in a while, an action movie comes out of nowhere and blows people away. John Wick is one of those movies.
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Russell Does the Hustle, American Style
American HustleMarch 23, 2014"Some of this actually happened." Released last week on Blu-Ray and DVD, David O. Russell’s 2013 hit American Hustle (which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards) out Scorsese’d Scorsese, as many critics put it. I will not go that far, but Russell creates a lively crime comedy/drama in the vain of past Scorsese classics such as Goodfellas, Casino and others – and it can compete on most levels.
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Hoffman a True Talent
CapoteFebruary 9, 2014In this second week of looking at some of the best Oscar winning movies and performances of all-time, I must once again begin an article with a melancholic note as another Hollywood great, Philip Seymour Hoffman, passed away last week at the age of forty-six. The talented character actor was able to bring forth complex, varied and nuanced performances throughout his career, with his Oscar winning role of Truman Capote, in the 2005 movie Capote, being a perfect depiction of his amazing talents.
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Silence is Golden
The ArtistMarch 4, 2013Last years big Oscar winner The Artist, which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score, and Costume Design, is a film that harkens back to the golden age of cinema. I have heard that a lot of people feel indifferent about watching this film, as a silent black and white motion picture seems boring and dated, yet The Artist is a beautifully written story that is quite the opposite.