Month: October 2014

Life of Crime (2014)

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I remember seeing the trailer for Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime about four or five months ago and being pretty excited about it. It’s based on one of my favorites in Elmore Leonard’s canon, “The Switch,” which is a prequel to “Rum Punch” (adapted by Tarantino as Jackie Brown). Life of Crime is also significant because it was the last time Dutch was closely involved with an adaptation of his work. He gets an executive producer credit on the film and although he passed away before its release, I have a solid feeling Dutch would’ve been happy as hell with Schechter’s confident, genuinely Leonardesque comic caper.

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GONE GIRL Review

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David Fincher’s Gone Girl, based on Gillian Flynn’s polarizing bestselling novel, is a marital horror show that’s going to keep spouses up at night wondering what the person sleeping next to them keeps secret. The story itself is pure pulp – a twisting, lurid crime tale with elements similar to (the better of) Lifetime’s original movies. But in the hands of an immaculate craftsman like Fincher, Gone Girl is a sleek work of art that deftly juggles black comedy and drama as it assaults the inner workings of a relationship. He picked the paperback out of the gutter and polished it off, leaving all of the story’s vitriol and venom intact…

READ THE REST OF MY GONE GIRL REVIEW AT THE ORLANDO WEEKLY!!!

THE BOXTROLLS REVIEW

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Laika animation studio has been crushing the stop-motion game since their 2009 Academy Award-nominated Coraline. They followed up with the equally impressive Paranorman, and now their latest work of wonder, The Boxtrolls,finds the studio delivering its most subversive and wildly imaginative work to date. Not only is Boxtrolls hilarious and remarkably animated, it also tackles some heavy issues like impressions of genocide and the trappings of the class system. Surprisingly grim in tone and featuring a lively cast of voice-actors, The Boxtrolls is one to delight macabre children and adults alike.

CLICK HERE TO READ TH REST OF MY THE BOXTROLLS REVIEW OVER AT THE ORLANDO WEEKLY!