TRUE DETECTIVE season 2, ep. 7: “Black Maps and Motel Rooms”
There aren’t a lot of ways a complex, Los Angeles-based story of crime, cops, and…
TRUE DETECTIVE season 2, ep. 6: “Church in Ruins”
Comparing the classical, effective opening scene of “Church in Ruins” to the largely weak rest…
“Continue down your mistaken path”: FULL METAL JACKET (1987)
What we call “inhuman” are in fact things that only humans do. (Bennett Berger) Writing…
TRUE DETECTIVE season 2, ep. 4: “Down Will Come”
In the South they believed they had bloodied their land with history. In California we…
Summer of Nathan: Staunch Characters (Kim Coates)
Summer of Nathan is a tribute to the work of former Dissolve (and current freelance)…
“Continue down your mistaken path”: SPARTACUS (1960)
They don’t make them like Spartacus anymore, an overstuffed, overlong pileup of gorgeous, funny, tearjerking,…
What Is Ownage?
You had to act, because no one else would. (James Ellroy) Ownage is fast and…
The Virtue of Clarity: ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and REIGN OF FIRE
Whenever a bloated, overlong action movie gets inflicted on the viewing public, someone can be…
Beat the Clock: Michelle MacLaren’s Action Scenes
Michelle MacLaren, director of the upcoming Wonder Woman, has done journeywoman work on many TV…
The Professionals: Michael Mann’s Men
The iconic repeated image of a Michael Mann film is a man with a gun,…