While I was at rehearsal for a theater fundraiser yesterday, I got an e-mail that I just have to share with you. I receive a lot of these notices and rarely run with them on Sketchy Details. They normally read…
I watched Django Unchained for a second time today and actually like it even more. There is so much going on in the background and the art design of the film that is so easy to miss if you only…
The Place Beyond the Pines is a linear anthology film telling three distinct chapters in a much looser story about fathers, sons, and personal responsibility. In the first story, professional motorcycle stuntman Luke discovers he has an infant son with…
How far would you go to provide comfort and care for the person you love most in the world? Would you sacrifice your own independence to take care of them full time? Would you go against the will of your…
I feel like I owe a lot of people an apology right now. For years, I have fought as hard as I could against the term “torture porn.” I have written screeds all over the Internet explaining why this was…
You can’t ignore context when evaluating a film. But what happens when context itself is the substance of the film rather than the film itself? Zero Dark Thirty is the story of how one C.I.A. officer’s tireless search for Osama…
A spaghetti western/revenge flick about slavery in the deep south should be a total disaster. It is just such a shocking concept that would require a deft hand, lots of planning, and a rock solid screenplay to even avoid being…
My glib, sarcastic response to Lincoln is “How much suspense can you really get out of whether or not congress voted for the 13th Amendment?” I had that thought before and after the film, but it was honestly the furthest…
William Friedkin and Tracy Letts get each other. They made that clear in their first collaboration Bug and the second go around proves it. Letts and Friedkin share a vision for Killer Joe and, for better or for worse, they…
For a film all about male strippers, Magic Mike sure has a lot of charm, wit, and mostly clothed characters in it. Director Stephen Soderbergh and screenwriter Reid Carolin took real life inspiration from star/producer Channing Tatum to tell an…
A homeless woman begs for money on a busy sidewalk. An action star shoots an elaborate weapons sequence in a motion capture suit. A dying man consoles his grieving daughter. What do these characters have in common? They are all…
In Flight, Denzel Washington stumbles around for two hours as a chronic alcoholic, coke fiend, and marijuana enthusiast while slurring out that he’s fine to take the stand in a hearing to determine if his alcohol and drug abuse caused…
The year is 1979. A large militarized group of Iranian citizens storm the American embassy in retaliation for the United States taking in their deposed Shah for medical treatment. Six embassy workers escape to the Canadian ambassador’s home. Their escape…
A married couple in Iran have amicably agreed to a divorce. There is only one sticking point: who does their daughter, Termeh, live with? If Termeh goes with her mother Simin, they’ll be leaving Iran within a few weeks on…