Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington play good cops in the 1999 crime thriller The Bone Collector, which is more of a comedy when revisited 15 years later. The stock plot search for the serial killer is subpar, especially compared with Jolie and Washington's acting...
“Higher” Ski Movie Arouses Snow Enthusiasts
About two months out from ski season, and the itch for snow is setting in and ski movies are touring mountain towns and amping up communities. Attending a ski movie premiere is unlike any regular cinematic experience. There are resort representatives handing out 2 for...
Throwback Thursday: The Craft
What do you do when you kill your mother in childbirth, fail at killing yourself, then have false kiss-and-tell rumors started about you by a football player at the Catholic school you're a new student at? You join a coven of ultra-hip witches who know your struggle....
Mountain Nutmeg Takes The Trip to Italy
This time last year my mother and I took a trip to Rome and the Amalfi Coast. We lingered in Rome’s piazzas, eating gelato and recounting familiar locations from such films as Roman Holiday, and Fredrico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Then we traveled south by train through...
The Terrifying Yet Tedious Annabelle
Annabelle is the spinoff/prequel to last year’s The Conjuring, a throwback to the horror films of the 1970’s and 80’s. The Conjuring, by horror vet James Wan (Insidious, Saw), was a surprise smash hit last spring, and because the titular doll, Annabelle was one of the...
The Unsettling Beauty of Gone Girl
From the second the studio logos hit the screen in the opening of David Fincher’s new film Gone Girl, the atmospheric, dreamy, too-good-to-be-true score sets in, leading us into the home of Nick and Amy Dunne. From the opening credits onward, the story of this couple...
Throwback Thursday: The Goonies
HHHEEEYYYY YOU GUUYYYSS!! You remember The Goonies, right? Of course you do because The Goonies was a totally awesome, quintessential 80's flick. We can hardly think about the 80's without the Chunk doing the Truffle Shuffle coming to mind. In case you haven't seen...
The Dysfunctional Family and This is Where I Leave You
It's Judd Altman's (Jason Bateman) wife's birthday and he leaves work a little early to bring her home a stunning cake, decorated with red roses and candles. He opens the door to their modernly furnished apartment, calls out her name, walks into their bedroom and...
Boyhood and a Journey Towards Manhood
If you haven't seen Boyhood in theaters yet, you should make an effort to. A true first of its kind, the film was shot over the course of 12 years, and should be added to the syllabi of Film History courses across America. As suggested by both the title and the poster...
Throwback Thursday: Beverly Hills Cop
Arguably, Eddie Murphy launched the genre of the "action-comedy" when he accepted his first feature film role alongside Nick Nolte in 48 Hours, directed by Walter Hill who was known, by that point, for darker action movies. The 1982 film enjoyed decent box-office...