[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00L3O0BCE][/pullquote] An English adaptation of a French graphic novel by a South Korean director, Snowpiercer is an apocalyptic future tale whose journey to release is almost is crazy and interesting as the film itself. Released in most countries in 2013, it never … [Read more...]
Review: The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
Anarchy-by-law [pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00CI39NHS][/pullquote] The Purge is an odd beast. It was a film that got lambasted by critics and audiences alike, and yet still made about 30x its budget. Plenty of films do this, mind, this isn't a new thing, but there's the kind of bad that gets … [Read more...]
Review: Jersey Boys (2014)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00J9C06F4][/pullquote] Adapted from the stage musical of the same name, Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons - how they got together, became famous, and eventually fell out with each other. You know how this story goes: egos clash, … [Read more...]
Review: Devil’s Knot (2013)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00J0IPLBQ][/pullquote] You might ask what the point is of a dramatized version of the infamous story of the West Memphis 3? There are already a series of excellent documentary films, notably West of Memphis and Paradise Lost 3, which have both been nominated for … [Read more...]
Review: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978, Hong Kong)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B002ZPIBTU][/pullquote] Widely considered one of the best kung fu films ever made, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin arrived right in the middle of the genre's heyday, coming out the same year as Jackie Chan's groundbreaking Drunken Master. Starring Gordon Liu, who would … [Read more...]
Review: Boyhood (2014)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00LHTGJZI][/pullquote] As film concepts go, Richard Linklater's idea for Boyhood is a brilliant one. Filmed between 2002 and 2013 in short bursts each year, it's the story of Mason, an American kid growing up, following him from pre-school to his first day of … [Read more...]
Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
The Apes of Wrath [pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00DHJTCPK][/pullquote] It took ten years worth of work to help Rupert Wyatt reboot the ailing Planet of the Apes franchise. In the clunkily-titled Rise of the Planet of the Apes audiences saw a blockbuster hit arrive almost unannounced in the summer … [Read more...]
Review: 20,000 Days on Earth (2014)
A Portrait of the Artist [pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00K8GL8G6][/pullquote] Nick Cave has been making brilliant, compelling music for more than 30 years, from explosive post punk blues with the Birthday Party to his extensive body of work with the Bad Seeds. … [Read more...]
Review: Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Robot Bores [pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00LA8H82E][/pullquote] Following in the footsteps of its commercial success juggernauts comes Michael Bay's latest blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction. Acting as a sort of reboot for the human cast, we lose Shia Labouef's Sam Whitwicky and gain … [Read more...]
Review: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Bohemian Rhapsody [pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00IKMC0YO][/pullquote] Cult directors don't get much more cult than Jim Jarmusch and who better than the bequiffed auteur to breathe new life into that tiredest of genres, the vampire film. … [Read more...]