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Rarely have I felt as conflicted as I did while watching Joshua Oppenheimer’s 2012 documentary, The Act of Killing. Over the course of its nearly three-hour running time, the movie does many things, some of which are wrenching, some of which...

The original Clerks was a trailblazing mid-1990s indie comedy whose love of profanity and pop culture references made it an unlikely art house success story while jump-starting the career of writer/director Kevin Smith. Although Clerks remains amu...

When I first saw The Disappearance of Alice Creed at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, I thought it was a sure bet to be picked up for United States art house distribution. I was wrong. Eventually, however, after the dust from the festival had sett...

For the most part, movies are obsessed with the notion that romantic love lasts forever. That explains the popularity of romantic comedies, most of which conclude with a declaration of undying affection, sealed with a kiss. Only a few brave direct...

One of the great strengths of Quentin Tarantino's films is the way his love of cinema permeates every frame. From subtle, throw-away lines and in-jokes to more obvious nods (such as the "old fashioned" Columbia logo at the beginning or the '70s-sty...

Four Rooms, a four-segment anthology directed by independent film darlings Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino, has to be one of 1995's major disappointments. Perhaps it's the format itself -- twenty minutes...

It's great fun, but certainly not great art. From Dusk Till Dawn, a special effects blood-and-gore extravaganza from director Robert Rodriguez, follows in the footsteps of such cult classics as Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series, thumbing its nose at con...

When the invasion of Iraq transpired in 2003, assurances came down from on high that this act was necessary to remove the clear and present danger represented by Sadaam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (this is when the acronym WMD entered the...

The term "grindhouse" refers to a specific type of '60s and '70s exploitation film: the sex-and-gore soaked fare that played in run-down urban cinemas and drive-in theaters. With their consistently poor production values and often horrifically bad ...

The credits for The Hateful Eight proudly proclaim this to be the “Eighth Film” from writer/director Quentin Tarantino. Since catching the movie world unawares with his powerhouse debut, Reservoir Dogs, some 23 years ago, he has worked on...