A drifter joins a carnival and becomes a skilled mentalist in Nightmare Alley. On the run from his past, Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) comes across a travelling carnival and is given work by its proprietor Clem Hoately (Willem Dafoe). Working as part of a psychic act of Zeena (Toni Collette) and Pete Krumbein (David Strathairn), […]

The daughter of a pair of grifters finds her world turned upside down after the arrival of a new accomplice in Kajillionaire. Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) is a socially awkward 26-year-old woman, whose only real lessons from her parents Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) was how to swindle, scam, and steal at […]

A single mother tries to turn her life around, while dealing with her addict ex-husband in Luba. Luba (Nicole Maroon) is a single mother struggling to make ends meet, while raising her six year old son Matty (Porter Schaefer). At the same time, Luba has to deal with her ex-husband Donnie (Vladimir Jon Cubrt), who […]

A mute cleaning woman befriends and tries to help an amphibious creature in The Shape of Water. Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) is a mute and lonely woman, who lives in apartment above a cinema in 1960s Baltimore and takes care of her neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins). Elisa works with her friend Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer) as […]

“I Mean to Beat You to Death and Drink Your Blood From a Boot.” Jack Reacher is an adaptation of the book One Shot by Lee Child and stars Tom Cruise in the title role.  Since there are over a dozen Jack Reacher novels in publication, it can be assumed that this film is aiming […]

It is obvious from the opening credits that Killing Them Softly is more art film than crime film.  Sure, the film focuses on a hitman named Jackie (Brad Pitt), who is called in to kill those responsible in a robbery.  However, the film moves at quite a slow pace, which features much more talking than […]

It’s going to be hard to talk about this movie without giving away too much of the plot.  In fact, if you’ve seen the trailer for this film, you probably already know too much. I will say that it’s a very self-aware horror film that plays greatly with horror cliches and expectations.  It was also […]

I sort of feel bad about the Farrelly brothers.  They had a huge hit in 1998 with There’s Something About Mary, however they haven’t since been able to match the success. The plot of Hall Pass involves how two married men (played by Owen Wilson and SNL‘s Jason Sudeikis), can’t stop gawking at younger women, so their […]

A year after taking a break from the genre with No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers return to comedy with Burn After Reading. I have to say that this is probably the Coen Brothers funniest film since 2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou, though some people might even look at far back to […]

Earlier this year when I was talking about Semi-Pro, I stated that I thought Will Ferrel’s routine was getting old. After seeing Step Brothers, I still have yet to be convinced otherwise. Before I say anything else, I should state that I thought Step Brothers was an incredibly funny movie. However, it was also an […]

When I go to my semi-regular independent film viewings, I usually never know much about the film I am going to see. I just see what’s playing, watch the trailers, and watch a film that seems intriguing. That’s how I decided to see The Visitor. This film has a very low-key cast, with the only […]