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Even in his early roles, like a supporting part in John Hughes' Sixteen Candles and the male lead in Rob Reiner's delightful The Sure Thing, there was something idiosyncratic about John Cusack's work. Recently, however, this quality has become mor...

By 1952, movie-goers knew exactly what to expect from a Western: a clean-cut, self-assured hero facing down a good-for-nothing villain in a climactic shoot-out, lots of action, gorgeous scenery, and not much in the way of thematic depth. This was...

With movies like The High Note that tell familiar stories, it’s all about how things are presented. Details matter. Performances are key and the “little things” that give the narrative a unique flavor are to be savored. In imparting the ...

When I first saw High Tension at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival, I wrote the following: " [High Tension] has virtually no chance of finding a North American distributor. After all, what's the market for slasher films with subtitles?" Imagine my ...

It has taken Hollywood more than fifty years to produce a rebuttal to Arthur Penn’s classic Bonnie and Clyde. In the romanticized 1967 gangster film, law enforcement in general and Frank Hamer in particular were portrayed as bumbling up until...

Here’s a rare example of a Netflix prestige film that neither runs too long nor overstays its welcome. While some of the A-list directors working for the streaming distributor have taken the opportunity to meander and add bloat to otherwise ...

The Hills Have Eyes II is a sequel to a remake but not a remake of a sequel. Curiously, Horrormeister Wes Craven has been involved in all four movies featuring the words "hills" and "eyes" in the title. He wrote and directed the 1977 original and ...

One could make a solid argument that the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes is superior to the 1977 original. The story has been tightened up, the acting is better, and the blood-and-gore effects aren't as hokey. Unfortunately, the biggest stumbli...

Sitting in the theater watching Him, I had an unpleasant flashback to The Neon Demon. As the movie lurched forward, growing ever more incoherent and alienating, I became convinced that the filmmakers, director Justin Tipping and his credited co-wr...

Note: Although this review does not contain explicit spoilers, careful reading may make it possible to discern plot points. Consider this a warning. David Cronenberg, the director of such films as Dead Ringers and The Fly, has a reputation for b...