Tagged with 2014 films

“The Most Important ‘Purge’ Sequel Changed Hollywood — And Frank Grillo’s Career”

“The Most Important ‘Purge’ Sequel Changed Hollywood — And Frank Grillo’s Career”

“Two things happened when The Purge: Anarchy opened in 2014. First, a consensus formed among critics and moviegoers that the film improved on its predecessor, The Purge, by taking its bleak pseudo-dystopian home-invasion template — all crime is legal for one night! — and turning it into an unhinged snapshot of the country’s psyche. Second, Frank Grillo, the film’s star, … Continue reading

Why Stonewall Doesn’t Work

Why Stonewall Doesn’t Work

“A couple weeks have passed since Roland Emmerich released his latest disaster flick, Stonewall, to the outrage of the gay community, the transgender community, the Ron Perlman fanboy community, the film critic community and probably the “outraged over outrage” community, too. Maybe we should have seen the uproar coming. Emmerich is not the man you … Continue reading

Review: Selma, 2014, dir. Ava DuVernay

Review: Selma, 2014, dir. Ava DuVernay

“If Selma can be described in one word, it’s “fiery.” Biopics are typically such rote, thankless exercises in filmmaking that the idea anybody could make one colored with brushstrokes this passionate feels contrary. But there’s no better way to characterize what Ava DuVernay has accomplished in her dramatic chronicle of the 1965 voting rights marches … Continue reading

Crump’s Top Ten Of 2014

Crump’s Top Ten Of 2014

It’s December 31st, the last day of the year, and that means it’s time for me to finally weigh in on my top ten movies of 2014, even though I have already done so twice in critics voting. Top ten lists are always a tricky thing. They’re alive. They breathe, they grow, they evolve; I … Continue reading

Review: Wild, 2014, dir. Jean-Marc Vallée

Review: Wild, 2014, dir. Jean-Marc Vallée

“Wild is ripe for easy snark on the page. Just as Cheryl Strayed embarked on her thousand mile sojourn to emotional betterment in 1995, Reese Witherspoon sets out to recreate Strayed’s quest in the pursuit of another Oscar win, what would be her first since 2005’s Walk the Line. It has long been the fashion … Continue reading

Review: Death Metal Angola, 2014, dir. Jeremy Xido

Review: Death Metal Angola, 2014, dir. Jeremy Xido

“The first few minutes of Death Metal Angola don’t feel like the introduction to a documentary. They’re something more akin to the opening sequence of a horror film. We’re presented with a quick lesson on Angola’s history in the 20th century—the 15-year war its people fought to regain their independence from Portugal (ending in 1975), … Continue reading