We all have our little rituals that guide us through our life. These are the things we do every day, week, month or year depending upon what it is we’re talking about. For every year since I was a small child around this time a year when it is approaching the Thanksgiving holiday I always make it a point to block out some time to … Continue reading Planes, Trains, & Automobiles Review
When Roger Ebert passed away last April the web saw an outpouring of tributes and well wishes normally reserved for the most beloved heads of state. Ebert’s final years were plagued with pain and peril, such as the advanced cancer that deformed his face, and took away his voice, thus ending his twenty-five plus year run of being a television show host of a major … Continue reading Life Itself Review
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” – Samuel P. Huntington With this ten part documentary series (now with two additional episodes on the new DVD release) The Untold History of … Continue reading The Untold History of the United States Review
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as the love-struck couple of Jesse and Celine here in this third installment of Richard Linklater’s “Before” series. Before we get into anything else, as expected, Hawke and Delpy continue to have astonishing chemistry together and are both very fine actors who deliver knockout performances here. In the previous two movies, they were still getting to know … Continue reading Before Midnight Review
This has proven a hard review to even begin. Not because I don’t have anything to say about Grand Theft Auto V, as a matter of fact I could say plenty about the game, but rather because I haven’t wanted to stop playing it. We’ve seen some truly amazing games this year: BioShock Infinite and The Last of Us standing out for most folks (myself … Continue reading Grand Theft Auto V Review
Splinter Cell has finally “come back.” That’s my short teaser for the theme of this review and many others reviews out there for that matter. This game brings the best aspects of Splinter Cell Conviction and previous pre Double Agent Splinter Cell games and merges those aspects together in a new and extremely satisfying whole. What Blacklist does it does very well. It feels like … Continue reading Splinter Cell: Blacklist Review
Before Sunrise begged the question, would you be willing to alter your entire life around one fateful night’s chance meeting? In that movie two twenty something’s met-cute on a train, wandered the streets of Vienna, and fell in love all the while walking and (endlessly) talking about everything under the sun. This movie asks basically the same question now that these two reconnect ten years … Continue reading Before Sunset Review
A guy (Ethan Hawke) and a girl (Julie Delpy), both in their early twenties, meet on a train bound for Paris in summer 1994. It doesn’t take them very long at all to discover that they have a remarkable chemistry together, and as such they begin a conversation on that train that will last the rest of the movie, and for two more movies following … Continue reading Before Sunrise Review
I’ve gone back and forth trying to decide how I wanted to handle this review. The Last of Us released this past Friday, and of course, it was a hugely anticipated PS3 exclusive. Reviews from the larger Metacritic outlets went up weeks ago, and so by now people who may have been on the fence before will have seen dozens and dozens of all positive … Continue reading The Last of Us Review
Has there ever been a movie that more effectively utilized a ‘cold opening’ better than Rio Bravo? We start with a dark and murky but still well crowded bar, a down on his luck and desperately drunk Deputy and a smug Gunman who first jokingly offers the Deputy a drink, and then tosses a silver dollar into a spittoon for him on the floor. These … Continue reading Rio Bravo Review
I shall open this review with the original foreword to the late, great Neil Postman’s most famous and enduring work ‘Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business’ written and released way back in 1985. “We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of … Continue reading Amusing Ourselves to Death Review
It’s a funny thing when a franchise can have three retail games available, the last of which is widely considered to be quite bad, and then have a fourth game be reduced down to a cheap digital only title. Now you may be asking “well what’s funny about that?” and the funny thing is the $15 downloadable title with almost no promotion whatsoever is easily … Continue reading Call of Juarez Gunslinger Review
I don’t know why I’m writing this, everybody should already know this is a fantastic movie…what? There are people that haven’t seen this? You’re kidding…my God, those poor bastards. Ok, for the six people in the universe that haven’t seen this movie, allow me to give a brief summary. Tombstone is the story of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp (Russell) and his brothers (Elliott and Paxton), … Continue reading Tombstone Review
As a big fan of classic film noir it is to my utter embarrassment to have to admit to not having until now, finally seen ‘The Third Man’ in its entirety. The final motivating factor that pushed me over the edge was a statement written by my movie reviewing hero, the recently deceased Roger Ebert, when he said that whenever he met someone who had … Continue reading The Third Man Review
I’ll state it upfront: This game will be on my Game of the Year shortlist without a doubt and it’s set a very high bar for the remainder of this year across the board. I know that’s a bold claim and challenge considering this only March as I write this review but that’s the kind of impression this game has left with me. I have … Continue reading BioShock Infinite (PC) Review
Note: BioShock Infinite was played to completion on “Hard” difficulty. This first playthrough took between 10 and 11 hours to complete, and I did not seek out every collectible (sight seeing or the voxphones) this time through. When I got my PlayStation 3 in 2009, I got a bunch of games to go with it. One of those was BioShock, and out of the entire … Continue reading BioShock Infinite Review
Today we will be looking at the PC version of Crysis. I’m not much of a PC gamer, and as my luck would have it, right after I started this, I found out they were releasing a console version. Nevertheless, I got my PC gaming on and beat this offering from EA and Crytek. So without further adieu, let’s get to it. For a 2007 … Continue reading Crysis Review
Once again the QDR and CCW are merged into one post, and once again CCW looks at a classic Cary Grant comedy. This time, it’s “Bringing Up Baby,” a hilarious romantic comedy co-starring Katharine Hepburn. Click to read the review. Continue reading Bringing Up Baby Review
Think you can’t learn economics? Think again! Peter Schiff’s book “How An Economy Grows and Why It Crashes” breaks down economics to a level anyone can understand and reveals the common sense approach that is Austrian economics. Read the review in the 17th QDR! Continue reading How An Economy Grows and Why It Crashes Review
At its release in 1933, King Kong was quite a spectacle and a true blockbuster. And while it’s been almost 80 years since this film released, it is still quite a spectacle. Prior to watching this for the first time, I had previously seen the 1976 remake starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange and thought it okay. I had also seen, and greatly enjoyed, the … Continue reading King Kong (1933) Review
