While watching Writer-Director David Ayer’s latest World War II drama, Fury, I was constantly reminded of the opening to the Fallout video games: “War. War never changes.” It does change men, though. The problem is, when you don’t really know the men in the first place, it’s hard to gauge just how much it has changed them. Continue reading
Reviews
Doug Reviews: Men, Women & Children
After the disappointment that was Labor Day, Director Jason Reitman is back with a movie that is a little more in his wheelhouse, Men, Women & Children. However, while the results are better, he still hasn’t regained his top form. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: The Book of Life
Produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, The Book of Life is a new animated film that feels fresh, but makes a few missteps to keep it from becoming an animation classic. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: Kill the Messenger
Imagine for a moment that in the midst of the War on Drugs in the 1980s, the U.S. Government turned a blind eye to the import of crack cocaine to American city streets—most specifically, Los Angeles—because the profits were going to fund the rebel Contras in Nicaragua. Now imagine that an investigative reporter broke this story in 1996. That’s the story behind Director Michael Cuesta’s true-life film Kill the Messenger. Well actually, that’s only half the story. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: The Judge
On the surface, The Judge looks like it should be a homerun. However, the final product is an overlong, but enjoyable movie with serious identity problems. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: Dracula Untold
Have you ever wished that Dracula was a superhero and not a monster that lures unwitting victims to him in order to drink their blood? Well, that’s what you get with Dracula Untold, which, not coincidentally, Universal is hoping will launch a shared universe for their monsters like Frankenstein and the Mummy a la Marvel Studios. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: The Good Lie
Though she’s the prominent face on the film’s poster, Reese Witherspoon is not the star of The Good Lie. No, that honor goes to the men who play three of the Sudanese “Lost Boys” in this touching and ultimately safe film. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: Gone Girl
Like his 2011 adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Director David Fincher’s Gone Girl is a very faithful interpretation of the source material. Of course, it helps a bit when the novel’s author is also the screenwriter. What Fincher and Author Gillian Flynn have created for audiences is not just a great movie, but the first must-see film of the fall. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: The Skeleton Twins
Indie dramedy The Skeleton Twins comes from Director Craig Johnson and stars Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, who both channel the chemistry they honed on Saturday Night Live to create a funny, touching story of siblings trying to find their way in the world. Continue reading
Doug Reviews: U2: Songs Of Innocence
U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. embraces his teenage son, echoing back to the covers of Boy and War
And lo, it came to pass that U2 and Apple shocked the world by not only announcing the long-awaited U2 album, but releasing it on the same day for free to all iTunes users. Then, an uproar rose up from both those who do not like U2 and those who clearly do not understand how the cloud works. What’s been lost in all this hullabaloo is whether or not Songs Of Innocence is any good or not. The answer is yes, yes it is. Continue reading
The Hodgepodge Podcast 