Release: Thursday, April 12, 2018 →ESPN Directed by: Robert Abbott In the eyes of many Bob Knight is an obvious candidate for the Mt. Rushmore of collegiate hoops coaching greats. He has numbers on his side and generations of fans ensure he won't be forgotten. But whereas words like legacy are most often used to glamorize and … Continue reading 30 for 30: The Last Days of Knight
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Just a Quick Thought: Thank you, Craig
Craig Sager, the long-time sideline reporter for the Turner broadcasting network, passed away today, December 15, 2016 at the age of 65 after a long and courageous battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He leaves behind a wife and five children, as well as a spot on the sidelines and a place in front of the … Continue reading Just a Quick Thought: Thank you, Craig
Life (2015)
Release: Friday, December 4, 2015 (limited) [Netflix] Written by: Luke Davies Directed by: Anton Corbijn The spotlight shines once more upon Hollywood icon and heartthrob James Dean in the creatively titled 2015 biopic Life. Okay, so there actually is some nuance to the label. You can take it at face value but the film is more concerned with the relationship the actor … Continue reading Life (2015)
Special Correspondents
Release: Friday, April 29, 2016 (Netflix) [Netflix] Written by: Ricky Gervais Directed by: Ricky Gervais I'm suspicious of any movie that literally ends with the line "This is like the end of a movie." While exemplary of the meta flavor of comedy that's been en vogue since at least the mid-2000s, that line is also symptomatic of a … Continue reading Special Correspondents
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Release: Wednesday, March 4, 2016 [Theater] Written by: Robert Carlock Directed by: Glenn Ficarra; John Requa The civilian translation of this film's odd title applies to this strange concoction in more ways than I'm sure the filmmakers intended. I left the picture feeling more confused about American relations with the Middle East than I did entering it. Perhaps that's the … Continue reading Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Spotlight
Release: Friday, November 6, 2015 (limited) [Theater] Written by: Thomas McCarthy; Josh Singer Directed by: Thomas McCarthy Every so often a film drops with little or no warning and leaves a lasting impression. 12 Years a Slave did it three years ago via punishing violence and bravura performances; a year later Gravity achieved unparalleled visual grandeur films two years on are still trying to match. Spotlight almost … Continue reading Spotlight
Truth
Release: Friday, October 30, 2015 [Theater] Written by: James Vanderbilt Directed by: James Vanderbilt Truth be told, a movie featuring household names like Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett, one propped up on real-world events of this magnitude shouldn't feel like a chore to get through. Yet, here we are. To clear the air first: don't think of this as … Continue reading Truth
True Story
Release: Friday, April 17, 2015 [Theater] Written by: Rupert Goold; David Kajganich Directed by: Rupert Goold True story: Rupert Goold's cinematic adaptation of the memoir penned by disgraced New York Times writer Michael Finkel elicits more yawns than being forced to sit through days' worth of testimony in an actual courtroom would. It ought to be a compliment that … Continue reading True Story
Kill the Messenger
Release: Friday, October 10, 2014 (limited) [Theater] Written by: Peter Landesman Directed by: Michael Cuesta Stories like this make me feel better about writing about less hardcore things than politics . . . . like movies. Because even as a much-loathed film critic your work may come home with you, but it's not likely to ever actually follow you home. (Unless, … Continue reading Kill the Messenger
Nightcrawler
Release: Friday, October 31, 2014 [Theater] Written by: Dan Gilroy Directed by: Dan Gilroy For anyone reeling in nostalgia for the days of Donnie Darko, boy do I have some good news for you. Jake Gyllenhaal is back and at least for the moment seems untouchable once more, playing the consummate weirdo very few of us are likely … Continue reading Nightcrawler