Everybody's Talking About Midnight Cowboy, Though I Can't Hear A Word They Say

The end of the 1960's saw American cinema getting to really strut its stuff as the Hayes Code, which put restrictions on what kind of material American films could cover, collapsed and the floodgates opened in terms of major American films suddenly being able to deal with aspects of reality that had previously been off-limits. One movie that certainly would never have been allowed to exist in the days of the Hayes Code existing was Midnight Cowboy, a John Schlesinger directorial effort whose content was so explicit that it was given an X-rating (the equivalent in that day and age for the modern-day NC-17 rating) from the MPAA.

Outstanding Sets And Visuals Are The Real Heroes of Dick Tracy

In the wake of 1989's Batman becoming such a massive box office success, Hollywood suddenly turned to film adaptations of comic books (though technically Dick Tracy was originally a comic strip) in hopes of replicating the box office success of that Tim Burton directed feature. One of the first post-Batman comic book movies was Dick Tracy, which had actually already been greenlit by Disney a year prior to Batman being released. Starring and directed by Warren Beatty, the project carried a $47 million budget and, despite becoming only the sixth film released by Disney at the time to score over $100 million domestically, ended up performing below Disney's box office expectations.

Robert Redford And Dustin Hoffman Take On A Subdued And Compelling Crusade For The Truth In All The President's Men

A recurring sentiment in the middle of the daily deluge of Earth-shattering political news transpiring in the modern era is that all these events are so unbelievable that they'd be thought of as too far-fetched if they were to occur in a piece of fictional media. Alas, reality tends to be stranger than fiction and it isn't just the current political affairs of the United States of America that are prime examples of this trend. There are numerous real-life events from the past to choose from if you want to look at just how outlandish reality can become and, especially the 1972 Watergate scandal and the ensuing conspiracies surrounding this event, conspiracies that were uncovered by studios investigative journalists.

The Meyerowitz Stories Is One Of Noah Baumbach's Strongest Efforts Yet As A Director

The fact that the plural version of the word story is utilized in the title of the new Noah Baumbach movie The Meyerowitz Stories should indicate to the average viewer that this one film contains multiple different tales it plans to tell. All of the assorted plotlines follow the Meyerowitz family, a group of assorted artists at differing stages of life. The member of this family most prominent in the film itself is Danny Meyerowitz (Adam Sandler), a piano player whose going through a divorce and also dealing with his 18-year-old daughter leaving home for college. Meanwhile, his half-brother, wealthy accountant Matthew Meyerowitz (Ben Stiller), is coming up from Los Angeles to sell their dads home.

Hook Review (Classic Write-Up)

You can practically see the head of TriStar waxing poetic on how much of a slam dunk Hook is conceptually. "It's got two of the biggest actors on the planet, one of the most well-known fictitious characters of all-time and it's directed by Steven Spielberg! How could this not be a runaway hit?" For sure, Hook made a pretty penny in its initial theatrical release (its $119.6 million cume back in 1991 would be about $246.1 million in 2016 dollars), but its critical reception was some of the most negative ever experienced by Spielberg and it's since faded from the public consensus. Today, 90's kids, from my experience with this age group, are more likely to have fond memories of fellow high-seas set family movie Muppet Treasure Island than they are of the first time Robin Williams and Steven Spielberg joined forces.

Tootsie Review (Classic Write-Up)

As weird as it may sound, Tootsie clinched the idea for me that Dustin Hoffman is one of my favorite actors. Not that I've "disliked" him before mind you, far far far from it, I've really enjoyed his performances in the likes of Rain Man and The Graduate. But Tootsie is one where he gets to exist in a more overtly comedic environment and he thrives in it while retaining the kind of persona that's made him a Hollywood legend. Also of note is that surrounding Hoffman in Tootsie are two other noteworthy actors who would go on to become notable fixtures of the silver screen themselves, Bill Murray and Jessica Lange.

The Cobbler Review

It wouldn't be shocking if the high concept premise of The Cobbler had been the story for a late 90's-early 2000's comedy starring Jim Carrey in the fashion of Liar, Liar or Bruce Almighty. Instead, it's the plot for not just easily the lowest grossing feature of Adam Sandler's career, but also a film that had the most anemic box office career of any movie in 2015 (it grossed under $25,000 domestically in an extremely limited theatrical release). Adding insult to injury, the motion picture was savaged by critics, and after finally seeing this infamous entity, I can now add my voice to the chorus of dissatisfaction The Cobbler has garnered.

Rain Man Review (Classic Write-Up)

Nowadays Tom Cruise is well known for his action performances, and for good reason. The dudes got the Mission Impossible films under his belt, and his most recent movies like Jack Reacher and Oblivion have all been focused on explosions and testosterone. In sharp contrast to those high-octane features is Rain Man, a 1988 Barry Levinson effort that is one of the rare films to accomplish the feat of being both the no. 1 movie at the domestic box office the year it was released and winning Best Picture.

The Graduate Review (Classic Write-Up)

A Graduate Of Great Directing

Who doesn't worry about the future? It's such a chaotic element, as unpredictable as a hurricane, it's only natural to be worried about the possibilities that the future could bring. Now that he's graduated from college, Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), is consumed by worrying about what he'll do with his life now. From the first frames of the film, this sort of internal conflict is apparent through the recurring use of close-up shots of Ben's face that emphasize his inner turmoil as well as the similarly prominent use of Art & Garfunkel's The Sound Of Silence.

Kung Fu Panda Continues To Defy Expectations With Its Christmas Special

Here's another exciting entry in this Holiday themed column, 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

Kung Fu Panda shouldn't work. On any level. But the entire endeavor made one crucial decision that changed everything; they got Jack Black to play the titular kung fu warrior. Black plays Po with undying eagerness that's always fun to watch, especially when his exuberance has to be used against tremendous antagonists. Even after two movies (the second of which hadn't come out when the subject of this review came out) that were excellent, a Christmas special should have simply a cash grab, not a reaffirmation of the franchises quality.

Chef Review

It must be said that Jon Favreau has probably has had the most unexpected career trajectory in Hollywood except for maybe Neil Patrick Harris. Who would have thought the dude who played a recurring character on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command would end up directing the best Christmas (Elf) and Superhero (Iron Man) movies of all-time? Of course, he's had his struggles, with him squaring off against Marvel Studios over the direction of Iron Man 2 and Cowboys and Aliens becoming a major financial failure.