Inside Llewyn Davis
Dec31

Inside Llewyn Davis

Smoke and Fears Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan Review written by Robert D. Patrick Siphoned of robust brush strokes and pastoral imagery, the Coens evoke a very somber, sometimes morally diaphanous 1960s. There is color, but the plumes of cigarette smoke make the proceedings almost monochrome. Our protagonist – if we can call him that – is a struggling artist of the obligatory kind. Adorned with a crestfallen lyrics...

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Interview w/ Chastity Belt
Dec24

Interview w/ Chastity Belt

‘We Don’t Have to Hide Behind Anything Now’   The rowdy, carbonated, guitar tenderizing music of Chastity Belt hails from Walla Walla, Washington. Through a cocktail of venomous riffs and feet stomping snark that bruises amps, the band released one of the best records of 2013. Lead singer Julia Shapiro’s sonic, booming vocals soar over the proceedings in a powerful – sometimes ethereal – way...

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Saving Mr. Banks
Dec19

Saving Mr. Banks

DiZzzZZzney’s World Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks Review written by Robert D. Patrick Saving Mr. Banks is about the daffy, carbonated personality of Walt Disney and the buttoned, stiff-shirted sensibilities of author P.L. Travers (don’t you dare call her Pamela, or she’ll have biblical hornets descend upon you). Of course the emotionally marred, stuffy protagonist ends up rosy despite her thorns by the end of...

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The Last Days on Mars
Dec13

The Last Days on Mars

Star Blech Starring: Liev Schreiber, Olivia Williams Review written by Robert D. Patrick Ah, makeshift habitats erected in space. Sterile ivory chambers that are crosshatched with artificial light? Check. Blinking keypads in a padded labyrinth of human megalomania? Tick that box. These are typical sights for films dealing with space exploration. Never forget that our species wanders in an incubator comprised of eggshell safety. The...

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Out of the Furnace
Dec06

Out of the Furnace

Sticks and Stones Starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck Review written by Robert D. Patrick Scott Cooper’s windswept, booze soaked, throaty debut won the bedraggled Jeff Bridges an Oscar in 2010. Cooper’s opus, a film about a weathered country singer on the precipice of demise, was a minimalist project that worked because of the steel guitar twang and the gutsy, visceral performance of its lead. “I felt like if we...

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Bettie Page Reveals All
Dec05

Bettie Page Reveals All

A Page Unwritten Review written by Robert D. Patrick Bettie Page’s flippant cascade of hair, pouring over her forehead in a coy, puckering expression of cavalier openness has become synonymous with the taboo architecture of the 1950s and beyond. Whether posing with open arms and breezy bathing suits or slithering around in the leather-laden recesses of eyebrow-craning acts of bondage, Page was an actress that enjoyed the trained...

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Interview w/ Keith Stanfield
Oct03

Interview w/ Keith Stanfield

‘We All Experience the Same Things in Varied Forms’   Keith Stanfield’s visceral, fist clenching, baritone reverberations in director Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12 have been tenderizing audience’s aortas since the film opened earlier this year. The young thespian is not only hugely talented, but he possesses indelible charisma (to see him at a Short Term 12 Q&A is to understand the breadth of...

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Short Term 12
Sep12

Short Term 12

Of Love and Horror Starring: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr. Review written by Robert D. Patrick Some kids bay at the moon in frustration, their muscles knotted up in a guttural rage. Others remain reticent, their fingers plugging away at their bed, as if their sheets were the grips of bowling balls. The children at the foster-care facility in Short Term 12 are half-mast and aching. Grace (Brie Larson), the steely but sincere...

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Interview w/ Destin Daniel Cretton
Sep11

Interview w/ Destin Daniel Cretton

Short Term 12, Destin Daniel Cretton’s visceral, unencumbered ode to the mastication of fear is the best film of the year. Sentient without being maudlin, artistic without being too self-aware, Cretton’s opus has emblazoned cinema with quiet fury. My profession’s rule of thumb is to practice discipline and restraint. As a pseudo-film critic, my job is to wait until the end of the year, when the keys are jostled from...

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Drinking Buddies
Aug28

Drinking Buddies

Of Love and Bore Starring: Oliva Wilde, Jake Johnson Review written by Robert D. Patrick Jeremiah Johnson beards, more flannel than Kim Deal’s closet, and ornate tap handles with everything from wooden whales to serpentine snakes emblazoned on them. The craft beer industry admonishes the sud-soaked mega-marketing of macro brews, and instead revels in the bitterness of hops, happiness and irascible pride. While the swell of rolled up...

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