Late Spring vs. Léon: When Quiet Drama Meets Explosive Action – A Cinephile’s Guide Look, I’ve spent more time in darkened theaters than a bat in a cave. Twenty years running this rag in LA, I’ve seen it all. So when my nephew, bless his Gen Z heart, suggested this blog, I figured, why not?…
2002: A Tale of Two Futures – Minority Report vs. Catch Me If You Can Look, choosing a movie shouldn’t feel like defusing a bomb. You want entertainment, not a film studies lecture. So let’s talk 2002 – a year that gave us two very different flicks: Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can….
Tarantino Two-Step: Pulp Fiction vs. Jackie Brown – Which Flick Rules Your Night? So, you’re staring at that wall of DVDs, or maybe scrolling endlessly through streaming titles, and Tarantino’s smirking back at you from two covers. Pulp Fiction. Jackie Brown. Both classics, right? Sure, but which one deserves your precious movie night? I’m Mike,…
Roads Less Traveled: A Head-On Collision Between ‘The Straight Story’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’ Alright, folks, Mike here, back from another week wrestling with the celluloid beast. This week, we’re doing a double feature of sorts, a study in contrasts if you will. We’ve got the quiet, unassuming heartland journey of David Lynch’s The Straight Story…
A Hitman and a Courtesan: Two Tales, Worlds Apart Alright, folks, Mike here, your friendly neighborhood film critic, back at the keyboard. Today, we’re diving into two films that, on the surface, couldn’t be more different: Luc Besson’s Léon: The Professional (1994) and Max Ophüls’ Lola Montès (1955). One’s a gritty, modern thriller, the other…
Alright, folks, Mike here, back in the trenches of cinema so you don’t have to be. Today, we’re diving into the deep end with two films from Ingmar Bergman, a director who could make a sunny day feel like a psychological thriller. We’re talking From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) and Fanny and Alexander…
Traffic vs. Umbrellas of Cherbourg: A Cinephile’s Guide to Choosing Your Next Watch Look, choosing a movie shouldn’t feel like defusing a bomb. You want entertainment, not a film studies lecture. So let’s cut the crap and talk about two films as different as a LA freeway and a rainy street in France: Traffic (2000)…
Seven Samurai vs. I Live in Fear: A Cinephile’s Guide to Post-War Cinema Look, I’ve spent more time in darkened theaters than a bat in a cave. Twenty years running this rag in LA, and my nephew, bless his heart, thinks a blog is the answer. So, here I am, Mike, your film critic, ready…
Alright, folks, Mike here. Let’s talk movies. Not just any movies, but two that often get thrown around in ‘best of’ lists: The Prestige (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008). You’re here because you want to know what to watch tonight, not to listen to some film school dropout drone on. I get it. You…
Alright, settle in, folks. Mike here, from your very own, very opinionated corner of the movie world. Today, we’re diving into the deep end with two titans of Japanese cinema, both from the master himself, Akira Kurosawa. We’re talking High and Low from 1963 and Red Beard from 1965. Now, before you glaze over thinking…
