From the DVD Shelf: Josh Reviews Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
I am a huge fan, over-all, of the Jack Ryan film series and I believe this is a character, and a series, that still has quite a lot of gas in its tank. What a disappointment, then, to watch the latest installment, the rebooted Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and discover a total waste of
Josh Reviews Jodorowsky’s Dune
The history of the movies is filled with wonderfully intriguing projects that never got made. A few years back I wrote about the wonderful documentary Lost in La Mancha, which told the tale of Terry Gilliam’s failed attempt at making a Don Quixote film starring Johnny Depp.
Batman: Assault on Arkham
I have soured recently on the DC Animated direct-to-DVD/blu-ray releases, and I’m afraid their latest release, Batman: Assault on Arkham, does little to change my general impression that this line of animated films has lost its way. This film had a few things going for it off th
Josh Reviews Sin City: Dame to Kill For
For me, growing up, Frank Miller was one of the gods of comic books. He seemed to be a master of the form of a super-hero comic-book, crafting some of the finest mainstream super-hero comic-book stories I had ever read (his long run on Daredevil; Batman: Year One; The Dark Knight Re
Josh Reviews Dear Mr. Watterson
The materials for Joel Allen Schroeder’s film Dear Mr. Watterson describe it as “a documentary film about the impact of the best comic strip in the history of the universe.” That’s a funny line, but also accurate, as I do believe that Bill Watterson’s C
Josh Reviews Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
I knew of Elaine Stritch mostly from her spectacular recurring role on 30 Rock as Jack (Alec Baldwin)’s imposing mother. But that was more than enough to interest me in Chiemi Karasawa’s recent documentary about her, titled Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me. Filmed in 2013 and re
Josh Reviews Snowpiercer
An attempt to reverse global warming has gone catastrophically wrong, resulting in frigid temperatures covering the entire planet and wiping out almost all life on Earth. The few survivors of humanity exist inside Snowpiercer, an enormous train on a track that circles the globe once
Josh Reviews A Most Wanted Man
Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a German spymaster who leads a small counter-terrorism group in Hamburg that seeks to develop intelligence sources within the Muslim community. Gunther has been investigating a wealthy local Muslim man, Dr. Abdullah, on the suspicion that
Josh Reviews Boyhood
The stunt concept behind Richard Linklater’s film Boyhood would make it worthy of note even if the end result wasn’t all that compelling. In an audacious, jaw-droopingly cool years-long undertaking, director Richard Linklater and his cast (including Ethan Hawke, Patricia
Josh Reviews Bad Words
I don’t believe that Jason Bateman’s directorial debut, Bad Words, got much of a theatrical release, and that is a shame because the film is absolutely dynamite, a crackling concoction of a dark, dark comedy. Mr. Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a forty-year-old man who exploi