Film Columns

Forsaken stars Kiefer and Donald Sutherland as father and son in a new Western drama. That’s the hook, but there is way more to this western than anyone would expect, although the director, writer and impressive supporting cast should give you a hint that this is an exceptional film. The story, on the surface, seems deceptively simple and one any fan of westerns has seen a dozen times. The railroad is coming and a corrupt business man is using a bunch of thugs to force farmers to sell their land to him. But to leave the description there would be like saying High Noon was about a town’s law enforcement human resources problems.

Giallo may be a thing of the past, but they just don't make 'em like they used to.

I inherited a respect for Orson Welles and a love for his work from an uncle who came of age in the 1940s when Orson Welles was one of radio and cinema’s best known actor/directors. When 'Chimes at Midnight' came out, I was busy coming of age and rioting at UCLA. I heard about the film and that Welles considered it his best work, but I missed it. Then, like the mysterious Mr. Welles himself, it disappeared for decades. Now, it’s back.

"Goodnight Mommy" lives up to the hype and is worth a look for anyone in need of fulfilling their annual horror quota.

It works in spurts, but never comes together in a satisfying whole, but there is at least enough good to make inquiring minds get their money’s worth.

The Champions is an amazing and heart-felt documentary about the “infamous” dogs that PETA and The Humane Society advocated should be euthanized because they were ferocious killers incapable of “rehabilitation.” These were the pit-bulls who had been rescued from the dog fighting compound of Michael Vick, the NFL Atlanta Falcon’s …

"Some kind of Hate" will more than satisfy genre fans on any day of the week.

'Room' will both scare you and make you cry. It is the best movie I’ve seen this year. It is two movies in one. The first movie is a tense thriller about an abducted teenager, locked in a 10 by 10 sound-proof garden shed as a sex slave for seven years. She finally has an idea of how to escape with her five year old child. The second movie is a psychological study of the effects of abduction, rape, and social and sensory deprivation on its direct and indirect victims. Both stories will grab you.

The series may never live up to the original’s charms, but at least it hasn’t hit rock bottom yet either.

Interested parties will find plenty to like here, just don’t expect any kind of modern masterpiece of mayhem.