Blog: Big Thoughts From A Small Mind

There was a time when horror films did not have to rely on elaborate death scenes to get a reaction out an audience. All it took was a few creaky doors, some strange whispers, and possibly a couple of well placed cats rustling about, to keep the viewers on edge. As with all cycles in film, the horror genre seems to be slowly reverting back to that era when creativity and not excessive gore was at the heart of a good chilling tale. The best modern day example is the successful Paranormal Activity franchise. [...]

Jack Nicholson 10 sample films: Chinatown A Few Good Men Reds The Departed Terms of Endearment Mars Attacks The Shining About Schmidt Batman One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Robert De Niro 10 sample films: Taxi Driver A Bronx [...]

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A few nights back my wife (aka Dragon D) and I took some time from our usually busy schedules to catch David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . As we both read the source material, the film seemed like the perfect choice to discuss for our latest "In Conversation" piece. Though we both read the first book in Stieg Larsson's trilogy, our overall experience with the trilogy has been vastly different. I have read the first book and watched the first two Swedish films ( Tattoo and The Girl Who Played [...]

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Advertisement has become such a big part of our everyday life that we have become oblivious to just how often companies are selling us things. In his latest documentary, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold , director Morgan Spurlock specifically looks at how advertisers are using movies to sell their products. Spurlock has really mastered the art of making his documentaries both informative and amusing. He offers good insight into the negotiation process that occurs between advertisers and the film industry. While it was eye opening to [...]

Wondering what bloggers have been chatting about this week? Here is Your Reading and Listening Schedule for Today : 9 am : Episode 27 of the KL5-Film podcast looks back at that 90s with the film Reality Bites . 10 am : Episode 32 of The Demented Podcast talk about the modern noir flicks L.A. Confidential and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang . [...]

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Tommy Lee Jones 10 sample films: The Fugitive The Company Men JFK Men in Black The Client Natural Born Killers Blue Sky Under Siege No Country for Old Men Space Cowboys or Jeff Bridges 10 sample films: The Fabulous [...]

To say watching Tyrannosaur was the equivalent of being punched in the stomach repeatedly would be an understatement. In fact being hit in the gut would probably have been more joyful. Despite being put through the emotional ringer, I would not hesitate for a second to recommend this film. There is an inherent beauty to the bleakness of the world in which the characters exist. In a fit of blind rage, a widower, Jospeh (Peter Mullan) ends up accidently killing his dog. Determined to try and change his self-destructive ways, he [...]

It is very rare that a film gets added to my all-time favourite list after just one viewing, but this is exactly where Black Narcissus ended up. I purposely waited a few weeks before watching it again to see if my initial reaction still held up. Needless to say, the film was even more glorious on repeat viewing. There is not a wrong note in the entire film. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, famously known as The Archers, Black Narcissus is a tour de force in both storytelling and acting. [...]

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?" After writing my piece on Stephen King film adaptations, I happened upon one of my favourites, Stand By Me , on TV. The coming-of-age story about four young boys who go in search of a dead body is a film that has stood the test of time. It's about friendship, strained [...]

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Wondering what bloggers have been chatting about this week? Here is Your Reading and Listening Schedule for Today : 9 am : Episode 83 of the French Toast Sunday podcast list some movies you need to give a second chance . 10 am : Over at the CriticalMassCast podcast, the gang talk about the best and worst films to be released this past December . 11 am Andrew comments [...]

70's Best Picture Winners 10 sample films: Patton The French Connection The Godfather The Sting The Godfather Part II One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Rocky Annie Hall The Deer Hunter Kramer vs. Kramer or Post 70's Best Picture Winners 10 sample [...]

The Dirty Dozen (1967) I recently watched a trailer for The Expendables 2 and was happy to learn Chuck Norris had joined the all star cast, led by Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although Norris is better known these days for the satirical Chuck Norris Facts, he parlayed his tough guy image into a long and successful career in film and television. Which brings me back to the film; I am anticipating The Expendables 2 [...]

The Academy Award nominees have been announced! Here are my initial thoughts: 1. Nine Best Picture nominees! I had predicted it would be seven films. 2. I was hoping Sailcloth would get nominated in the Short Film (Live Action) category but no such luck. Very curious to check out the films that made the cut this year. 3. Did not expect to see J.C. Chandor get nominated in the Original Screenplay category for Margin Call . Super excited about this nomination. 4. I [...]

It is rather peculiar that a film of Haywire 's quality would be released so early in the year. January has been notoriously known as the dumping ground for many studios. It is usually time of year when films that the studios have very little faith in are released in order to make a few quick bucks. In 2012 studios really seem to be going after fans of the action and horror genres with the release of films like The Devil Inside , Contraband , Underworld: Awakening , and the aforementioned Haywire [...]

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