Psychdoc77 is a cinephile in Chicago, IL. His interest in film dates to childhood and a long-closed video store named Video Vault which, in 1987, seemed to have every movie ever made. In particular, it had all the James Bond […]
Continue reading »Category: Reviews by Psychdoc77
Reviews by Mike Marcangelo, guest contributor
Jigoku (1960) ☆ ☆ ☆
Jigoku (translated from Japanese as “hell”) is a tale of two college students who accidently run down a gangster with their car. They don’t report the killing and things start to spiral out of control for them, especially Shiro, the […]
Continue reading »The Artist (2011) ☆ ☆ ☆
In 1927, a silent film star (Jean Dujardin, looking like a French James Bond) helps a young ingénue (Berenice Bejo) get her break into films. As sound comes in and his star fades, she explodes into a top star. She […]
Continue reading »Prozac Nation (2001) ☆ ☆
Prozac Nation, based on Elizabeth Wurtzel’s bestselling memoir of depression during college, details a Harvard student’s experience of depression. Christina Ricci stars as Wurtzel, a writer who almost immediately becomes known for her music journalism when she starts college. She […]
Continue reading »War Horse (2011) ☆ ☆
Steven Spielberg’s first World War I film, War Horse, concerns a horse that a boy obtains in England during the lead-up to the war. The boy and the horse become close and the horse nearly saves the family, but when […]
Continue reading »Halloween II (2009) ☆
Halloween II is Rob Zombie’s sequel to his own remake of John Carpenter’s original Halloween. This version largely leaves Carpenter’s storyline behind and sees Michael Myers resurrected by his mother and a white horse after an ambulance accident. Two years […]
Continue reading »Crumb (1995) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Robert Crumb, one of the most famous cartoonists in the world and an underground art figure from the late 1960s, is the centerpiece of this documentary by Terry Zwigoff. The film shows Crumb at work and documents his family life […]
Continue reading »Halloween (2007) ☆ ☆ 1/2
A major entry in the remake cycle of horror films from the mid to late aughts, Halloween represents Rob Zombie’s attempt to flesh out the original American slasher film. Running at two hours, the first half of the film involves […]
Continue reading »Owning Mahowny (2003) ☆ ☆ ☆
Dan Mahowny (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a young bank executive, is moving up in the world. He has a kind girlfriend (Minnie Driver) who wants to be married and was recently promoted. He manages large accounts and is admired by his co-workers. Underneath […]
Continue reading »Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011) ☆ 1/2
Jonathan Safran Foer’s second controversial novel receives a full studio treatment here via Scott Rudin’s production company. The story involves a boy (Thomas Horn) who loses his father (Tom Hanks, a holy being) on September 11 and has a difficult […]
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