San Diego wouldn’t be one of the first cities that come to one’s mind when thinking of places with vibrant film cultures, nor should it be. Returning to Los Angeles for graduate school has only reminded me what a dearth of cinematic opportunity my hometown offers for a metropolis of its size, with its parade […]
Notes from the 2014 San Diego Latino Film Festival Read More »
The question on everybody’s mind at last year’s TCM Classic Film Festival was: Is this the end of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre as we know and love it? There was a collective feeling of uncertainty as festival-goers filed into the grand old movie palace for the closing night presentation of Buster Keaton’s “The General,” the final
2014 TCM Classic Film Festival: Preview Read More »
With the re-release of “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” in a new “Super-Sized R-Rated Version” complete with “763 new jokes,” we at Critic Speak thought it would be appropriate to interview one of the film’s cast members and have them convince us why we should spend our hard-earned money to go see a film we
Everything you need to know about the R-rated version of “Anchorman 2” Read More »
Rest assured: this is the only Oscar predictions post you’ll see on Critic Speak all year. While the rest of the Internet film community becomes obsessed with statuettes come November, writing almost exclusively about precursors and frontrunners and “Oscar buzz” for the next four months, we pride ourselves on keeping the focus on real criticism.
Our 2014 Oscar Picks and Predictions Read More »
Let’s not bury the lede here: Around the 57-minute mark of “Man of Tai Chi,” Keanu Reeves hisses like a dragon, mouth agape, straight into the camera, framed in close-up. If you can’t handle the intense lunacy of this moment, never add “Man of Tai Chi” to your Netflix list, never buy it on VOD,
Streaming Pick: “Man of Tai Chi” Read More »
Mads Mikkelsen has made a career out of playing monsters. His two most prominent roles (especially to American audiences), the “Casino Royale” villain Le Chiffre and the titular character on NBC’s “Hannibal,” have offered Mikkelsen opportunities to play all sides of the sick and the ruthless. As Le Chiffre, Mikkelsen was presented with an opportunity
Streaming Pick: “The Hunt” Read More »
Bret Easton Ellis recently declared 2013 the worst year in the history of cinema. If that’s true, I didn’t notice. For months, I’ve walked out of film after film, saying to myself or whoever I was with, “Well, that’s a potential top 10 candidate,” so pleased I was with what I just saw. When the
James Frazier’s Top 10 (+10) Films of 2013 Read More »
To exist is to crave companionship. From the earliest stages of our lives, we witness and are told explicitly and implicitly—by our parents, our neighbors, Disney films, television commercials—that to find a soul-mate, someone who you can share the whole of your being with, is what humanity has come to accept as the meaning of
Streaming Pick: “Drinking Buddies” Read More »
Contemporary mainstream action cinema is hurting. From the redundant stunt-casting of “The Expendables” franchise to the thirty-years-too-late Cold War thriller-aping antics of “Salt,” the genre has succumbed to the run-of-the-mill. But “Dredd” exists in direct opposition to this string of mediocrity. While there are other exceptions to the rule like “The Raid” (which bears more
Streaming Pick: “Dredd” (2012) Read More »
2013 wasn’t a bad year for movies, but it felt like it at times due to the dearth of big surprises. Of my top 10 films, nine were made by established auteurs, eight of whom produce work I routinely praise. Where was the earth-shattering debut from an exciting new voice, or the big blockbuster that
Danny Baldwin’s Top 10 Films of 2013 Read More »
