With “Cocaine Bear” you’re either in for the ride, or you aren’t. Going in to Elizabeth Banks’ horror comedy, I knew exactly what I was getting, so I had a blast with it, suffice it to say. Everyone in the film seems to know what kind of movie they’re in as it wears everything about itself on its sleeve. It’s a movie about a rampaging black bear on a coke trip. What more are you expecting?
Tag Archives: Crime
Training Day (2001) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
No matter how many times I watch “Training Day,” it remains one of my favorite crime thrillers of all time. It’s not only a stunning and mesmerizing crime film, but one of Denzel Washington’s most brilliant performances. In a career filled with roles where he portrayed mostly nice guys, his performance as Alonzo Harris is a departure that he fits in to beautifully. Alonzo Harris has to be one of the conniving and vindictive movie villains of all time. He’s a cop that’s not only been corrupted by the system but has unapologetically embraced his role as a slimy bastard who twists the system for his benefit.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Director Peyton Reed’s style and sensibility really matches up well with the third “Ant-Man” movie series, a franchise that’s been a lot about an underdog hero. In a world where he’s even second to Spider-Man, a fellow under dog superhero, it’s interesting to see how “Quantumania” depicts the idea of family and how dads can be all the heroes we need when all is said and done. Deep down, “Quantumania” is a movie about family, about the unconventional family unit and how it works in a world that they’re woefully unprepared for.
Miles Behind: A Spider-Man Fan Film (2022)
Director and Writer Tito Guillen’s short fan film for Miles Morales has a lot of feature film potential. It’s sad that it took so long for Miles Morales to garner his own animated film, but when it comes to feature films I think he could be an icon. That’s proven in “Miles Behind,” Tito Guillen’s tribute to Spider-Man that touches upon very socially relevant topics.
Infinity Pool (2023)
Writer/Director Brandon Cronenberg’s horror film promises to be one of the most polarizing, if not the most polarizing, film of the year. It’s a grotesque, beautiful, nauseating depiction of sickening hedonism and amorality in its seductive and repelling. It’s a kaleidoscopic orgy of sex and violence and pure blood thirst that, as art often does, comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable. “Infinity Pool” is the very definition of body horror, a movie that both celebrates and abhors everything about the body.
You Have to See This! Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
“When they get to heaven they’ll be forgiven. God will forgive them and let them in. And I can’t live with that.”
I’ve been a fan of Paddy Considine’s since I saw him in his utterly frightening performance as a mentally imbalanced recluse in “A Room for Romeo Brass.” I also loved him in the schmaltzy albeit well-intentioned family drama in “In America,” and he flexes his keen ability to be both menacing and vulnerable with Shane Meadows’ “Dead Man’s Shoes”. Meadows’ revenge thriller is a very visceral revenge film that delves in the fall out from the breaking of a cardinal rule: Don’t ever fuck with a man’s family.
DC League of Super-Pets (2022)
I’m surprised it took this long for a super pets movie to be conceived by Warner Bros. It’s always been a recurring theme in DC Comics with superheroes having their own super pets. Hell, even Superman had a Super Horse at one time or another. In either case, “League of Super-Pets” feels like a next interesting step in the DC animated universe that I hope can continue in one way or another. While the movie isn’t perfect, it sure is a fun diversion with a neat narrative.