write and sleep
Posts by: Zach Nix
To be completely honest, I spent most of 2013 watching older films. Yet as much as I wanted to see great films like 12 Years a Slave and The Act of Killing, I instead saw crap like Man of Steel. I am ashamed. I’ll probably end up seeing more of the big titles into 2014, […]
Comic book superhero films make some of the biggest box office bucks in today’s movie industry. There are so many of these films that they can be classified as a genre of their own. But I feel to be classified as one, a live action comic book superhero film must be based off of this […]
Harry Brown is a great companion piece to Michael Winner’s gritty 1974 actioner Death Wish. They are both dramatic and intense vigilante films that rely more on their characters and drama than their graphic and sudden action scenes. Where Death Wish feels slightly restrained at some points, Harry Brown is a full onslaught of emotions. […]
Only God Forgives is a hypnotic, surreal, and dream-like film. Much like Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Only God Forgives moves at a slow pace with steady camera work and engrossing imagery. Refn’s previous film, Drive (2011), is an art film that is more accessible to the casual film goer. However, it should be […]
V/H/S/2 is a bigger and better successor to last year’s V/H/S. For those not familiar with the V/H/S series, V/H/S is a combination of two popular styles of horror filmmaking. The film is first and foremost an anthology film. Anthology films usually contain an overarching story that serves to introduce and present us with usually three to five unrelated short stories. […]
Room 237 is a hypnotic documentary that serves two important purposes. #1: The Shining is an insanely complex and ingenius piece of art. #2: Anyone can perceive a film radically different from someone else. The documentary presents six varying opinions on the secrets and imagery hidden within the confines of Kubrick’s horror masterpiece. However, we […]
Wu Xia is a beautifully photographed Chinese actioner that feels like an extended episode of C.S.I. Think of it as C.S.I. China if you will. The film tells the story of Liu Jinxi, portrayed by Donnie Yen. When Jinxi goes to the store one morning, two thieves rob the store. Jinxi defends the elderly workers […]
Frank Miller’s graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, is arguably one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. It shows us a future when Bruce Wayne and all other super heroes have been put out of commission. When Bruce is attacked by some thugs in the infamous crime alley, he decides that it […]
Full Contact is a hard-core heroic bloodshed film. For those not in the know, heroic bloodshed is a sub-genre of Chinese action films. They usually feature the themes of honor, friendship, and lots of stylized action. Full Contact definitely has all of those. What separates Full Contact from other heroic bloodshed films though is how […]
Edge of Darkness stars action icon, Mel Gibson, as he investigates his daughter’s death. This kind of film sounds along the lines of Taken or an old fashioned 90’s action film. Instead, Edge of Darkness is a very slow paced and talkative thriller. It’s a pot broiler that slowly bubbles and bubbles. While it contains intense violence (one […]
