Lessons of Darkness

Plans for Web Domination Continue...

Because my fingers never want to stop typing, I've now - on top of my other writing gigs - joined the team at The Screengrab, where I'll be writing reviews and other assorted bloggy stuff. I'll likely only be posting links to my Screengrab film reviews here, but encourage everyone to bookmark the site (or subscribe to its RSS feed), since the more hits my posts get, the cooler I become.

And now, onto the week's reviews...

Out Now:
The Uninvited (Slant magazine)
Medicine for Melancholy (The Screengrab)
Serbis (The Screengrab)

Smack Talk

Not much to say about these new reviews, except that they're mostly negative, and one of them is even my first zero-star review of the year.

Out Now:
Inkheart (Cinematical)
Donkey Punch (Slant magazine)
The Lodger (Cinematical)

Coming Soon:
New in Town (Slant magazine)

She Said It, Not Me

Jump to the 3:12 mark.



(Hat tip to Bill C and co. at The Film Freak Central Blog for reminding me about this)

Linksies

No time for commentary. Just links. CLICK AND READ!

Out Now:
My Bloody Valentine 3D (Slant magazine)
Notorious (Slant magazine)
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Cinematical)

Sundance One-Offs

In honor of this year's sure-to-be-overhyped-and-largely-irrelevant Sundance Film Festival, IFC News has compiled a list of the yearly event's 25 biggest one-hit wonders. I've lent my help via write-ups - for #s 25 (Down to the Bone), 22 (Panic), 18 (A Slipping-Down Life), 14 (The Big Kahuna), 10 (Scotland, PA), and 7 (Open Water) - that can be accessed via the feature's main page (link below).

The 25 Biggest Sundance One-Hit Wonders (IFC News)

2008's Comeback Kids

In all the year-end hoopla, I seem to have forgotten to post a link to my second 2008 wrap-up feature for IFC News, which details the year's best and worst comebacks. Here it is, late but still delicious.

2008's Comeback Kids (For Better or Worse) (IFC News)

Ringing in the New Crap

We're only nine days into the new year, and already the cinemas have blessed us with one great release (Cargo 200) to help offset the predictable January junk. Though as far as junk goes, The Unborn - how that's for an exploitative poster (left)? - is of a premium quality.

Out Now:

Cargo 200 (Slant magazine)

The Unborn (Slant magazine)

Bride Wars (Slant magazine)

Yonkers Joe (Slant magazine)

Published Film Reviews - 2009

12/21/09 - Avatar (Slant magazine)
12/21/09 - It's Complicated (Time Out New York)
12/21/09 - Invictus (Slant magazine)
12/21/09 - Crazy Heart (Slant magazine)
12/21/09 - The Slammin' Salmon (Slant magazine)
12/4/09 - Brothers (Slant magazine)
12/4/09 - The Last Station (Time Out New York)
11/30/09 - The Princess and the Frog (Slant magazine)
11/30/09 - Planet 51 (Time Out New York)
11/30/09 - Old Dogs (Slant magazine)
11/30/09 - Until the Light Takes Us (Slant magazine)
11/20/09 - The War on Kids (Time Out New York)
11/16/09 - Fantastic Mr. Fox (Slant magazine)
11/16/09 - Red Cliff (Slant magazine)
11/16/09 - Pirate Radio (Slant magazine)
11/16/09 - Staten Island (Slant magazine)
11/16/09 - Fix (Slant magazine)
11/6/09 - The Box (Slant magazine)
11/6/09 - A Christmas Carol (2009) (Slant magazine)
11/6/09 - Collapse (Slant magazine)
11/6/09 - Splinterheads (Slant magazine)
10/30/09 - The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (Slant magazine)
10/30/09 - Skin (Slant magazine)
10/30/09 - Labor Day (Slant magazine)
10/23/09 - Amelia (Slant magazine)
10/23/09 - Saw VI (Slant magazine)
10/23/09 - Astro Boy (Time Out New York)
10/23/09 - Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (Time Out New York)
10/23/09 - Motherhood (Slant magazine)
10/23/09 - The Stepfather (2009) (Slant magazine)
10/9/09 - Bronson (Slant magazine)
10/9/09 - Couples Retreat (Slant magazine)
10/9/09 - The Damned United (Slant magazine)
10/9/09 - Free Style (Slant magazine)
10/5/09 - Zombieland (Slant magazine)
10/5/09 - Toy Story 1 & 2 3D (TONY)
10/5/09 - The Invention of Lying (Slant magazine)
10/5/09 - More than a Game (TONY)
10/5/09 - After the Storm (TONY)
10/5/09 - A Beautiful Life (Slant magazine)
10/5/09 - Life During Wartime (Slant magazine)
10/5/09 - Trash Humpers (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - Pandorum (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - Coco Before Chanel (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - Intimate Enemies (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - The Blue Tooth Virgin (Time Out New York)
9/28/09 - Broken Embraces (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - The Red Riding Trilogy (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - Lebanon (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - Sweetgrass (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - Ghost Town (2009) (Slant magazine)
9/28/09 - Hadewijch (Slant magazine)
9/20/09 - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (TONY)
9/20/09 - I Can Do Bad All By Myself (TONY)
9/20/09 - Fatal Promises (TONY)
9/20/09 - Paris (Slant magazine)
9/20/09 - Fuel (Slant magazine)
9/13/09 - Gamer (Slant magazine)
9/13/09 - Whiteout (Slant magazine)
9/13/09 - All About Steve (Slant magazine)
9/13/09 - Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Slant magazine)
9/13/09 - Not Forgotten (Slant magazine)
8/31/09 - Halloween II (2009) (Slant magazine)
8/31/09 - Big Fan (Slant magazine)
8/31/09 - At the Edge of the World (Slant magazine)
8/24/09 - World's Greatest Dad (Slant magazine)
8/24/09 - My One and Only (Slant magazine)
8/24/09 - Post Grad (Slant magazine)
8/24/09 - X Games 3D: The Movie (Slant magazine)
8/16/09 - District 9 (Slant magazine)
8/16/09 - The Time Traveler's Wife (Slant magazine)
8/16/09 - I Sell the Dead (Slant magazine)
7/31/09 - Not Quite Hollywood (Slant magazine)
7/26/09 - You, the Living (Slant magazine)
7/26/09 - Gotta Dance (Slant magazine)
7/26/09 - Orphan (Slant magazine)
7/26/09 - G-Force (Slant magazine)
7/20/09 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Slant magazine)
7/20/09 - The Way We Get By (Slant magazine)
7/20/09 - Blood: The Last Vampire (Slant magazine)
7/20/09 - The English Surgeon (Slant magazine)
7/20/09 - The Answer Man (Slant magazine)
7/20/09 - Kabuli Kid (Slant magazine)
7/20/09 - Look Into My Eyes (Slant magazine)
6/29/09 - Brüno (Slant magazine)
6/29/09 - Public Enemies (Slant magazine)
6/29/09 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Slant magazine)
6/29/09 - The Stoning of Soraya M. (Slant magazine)
6/19/09 - Year One (Slant magazine)
6/19/09 - Whatever Works (Cinematical)
6/19/09 - The Proposal (Slant magazine)
6/19/09 - Surveillance (Cinematical)
6/13/09 - Tetro (Cinematical)
6/13/09 - The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) (Slant magazine)
6/13/09 - BLAST! (Slant magazine)
6/5/09 - The Hangover (Slant magazine)
6/5/09 - Land of the Lost (Slant magazine)
6/5/09 - Away We Go (Slant magazine)
6/5/09 - Tennessee (Slant magazine)
6/5/09 - Pontypool (Slant magazine)
5/31/09 - Up (The Screengrab)
5/31/09 - Drag Me to Hell (The Screengrab)
5/31/09 - Pontypool (Slant magazine)
5/31/09 - What Goes Up (Slant magazine)
5/22/09 - Terminator Salvation (The Screengrab)
5/22/09 - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Slant magazine)
5/22/09 - O'Horten (Slant magazine)
5/18/09 - Angels & Demons (Slant magazine)
5/18/09 - The Brothers Bloom (The Screengrab)
5/18/09 - Jerichow (The Screengrab)
5/18/09 - Management (Cinematical)
5/8/09 - Star Trek (The Screengrab)
5/8/09 - Adoration (The Screengrab)
5/8/09 - Outrage (The Screengrab)
5/8/09 - Rudo y Cursi (The Screengrab)
5/1/09 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - The Limits of Control (The Screengrab)
5/1/09 - Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - Battle for Terra (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - Eldorado (The Screengrab)
5/1/09 - Moon (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - The House of the Devil (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - The Girlfriend Experience (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - Black Dynamite (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - Cropsey (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - Vegas: Based on a True Story (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - Soul Power (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (Slant magazine)
5/1/09 - Love the Beast (Slant magazine)
4/24/09 - Tyson (The Screengrab)
4/24/09 - Fighting (Slant magazine)
4/24/09 - Obsessed (Slant magazine)
4/24/09 - Earth (Slant magazine)
4/24/09 - A Touch of Spice (Slant magazine)
4/19/09 - Crank: High Voltage (Slant magazine)
4/19/09 - State of Play (The Screengrab)
4/19/09 - Sleep Dealer (The Screengrab)
4/19/09 - Is Anybody There? (Slant magazine)
4/13/09 - Observe and Report (Slant magazine)
4/13/09 - Hannah Montana: The Movie (Cinematical)
4/13/09 - Lymelife (The Screengrab)
4/13/09 - An Unlikely Weapon (The Screengrab)
4/3/09 - Fast & Furious (Slant magazine)
4/3/09 - Sugar (The Screengrab)
4/3/09 - Gigantic (The Screengrab)
4/3/09 - Paris 36 (Slant magazine)
4/3/09 - The Escapist (Slant magazine)
4/3/09 - Forbidden Lie$ (Slant magazine)
4/3/09 - The Song of Sparrows (The Screengrab)
4/3/09 - Alien Trespass (The Screengrab)
3/27/09 - Monsters vs. Aliens (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - Goodbye Solo (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - The Haunting in Connecticut (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - The Country Teacher (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - Guest of Cindy Sherman (The Screengrab)
3/27/09 - Treeless Mountain (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - The Maid (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - Barking Water (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - Cold Souls (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - Louise-Michel (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - Harmony and Me (Slant magazine)
3/27/09 - Can Go Through Skin (Slant magazine)
3/20/09 - Duplicity (Cinematical)
3/20/09 - Knowing (Slant magazine)
3/20/09 - The Great Buck Howard (Slant magazine)
3/20/09 - Skills Like This (Slant magazine)
3/20/09 - Super Capers (Slant magazine)
3/20/09 - We Pedal Uphill (The Screengrab)
3/14/09 - The Last House on the Left (2009) (Slant magazine)
3/14/09 - Miss March (Slant magazine)
3/8/09 - Watchmen (Slant magazine)
3/8/09 - Explicit Ills (Slant magazine)
3/8/09 - 12 (Slant magazine)
3/8/09 - Tokyo! (The Screengrab)
3/8/09 - Sherman's Way (The Screengrab)
3/8/09 - Reunion (The Screengrab)
2/27/09 - Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Cinematical)
2/27/09 - Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (Slant magazine)
2/27/09 - Crossing Over (Slant magazine)
2/27/09 - The Trouble with Romance (The Screengrab)
2/27/09 - Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead (Slant magazine)
2/20/09 - Fired Up (Slant magazine)
2/20/09 - Must Read After My Death (The Screengrab)
2/20/09 - Eleven Minutes (The Screengrab)
2/13/09 - Friday the 13th (2009) (Slant magazine)
2/13/09 - Two Lovers (The Screengrab)
2/13/09 - Confessions of a Shopaholic (Slant magazine)
2/6/09 - Push (Slant magazine)
2/6/09 - The Pink Panther 2 (Slant magazine)
2/6/09 - Fanboys (The Screengrab)
2/6/09 - Chocolate (Slant magazine)
1/30/09 - The Uninvited (Slant magazine)
1/30/09 - Medicine for Melancholy (The Screengrab)
1/30/09 - Serbis (The Screengrab)
1/26/09 - New in Town (Slant magazine)
1/26/09 - Inkheart (Cinematical)
1/26/09 - Donkey Punch (Slant magazine)
1/26/09 - The Lodger (Cinematical)
1/26/09 - New in Town (Slant magazine)
1/16/09 - My Bloody Valentine 3D (Slant magazine)
1/16/09 - Notorious (Slant magazine)
1/16/09 - Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Cinematical)
1/9/09 - Cargo 200 (Slant magazine)
1/9/09 - The Unborn (Slant magazine)
1/9/09 - Bride Wars (Slant magazine)
1/9/09 - Yonkers Joe (Slant magazine)