“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.” That spirit-leveling Shakespearean tidbit, delivered by Gloucester in “King Lear,” gets a radical makeover in, of all places, a maniacally existential, animated, supermarket dramedy. Yes, in Sausage Party the same sentiment is explosively rendered by a desperate jar of […]
Archetypes: Film: Review: ‘The Night Before’ (2015)
November 17, 2015 by
If you’ve ever wondered how the Christmas film classic It’s a Wonderful Life might have turned out had it been heavily dosed with amphetamines, your wait is over. Co-written and directed by Jonathan Levine, The Night Before – an interdenominational tale of three 30-something lads who haven’t quite manned up – uses magic realism to […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘Neighbors’ (2014)
May 5, 2014 by
Wordsworth is no doubt turning over in his grave, knowing that his staid, elegant adage – “the child is father of the man” – has just gotten a 21st-century, frat-boy comedy makeover. Directed by Nicholas Stoller, Neighbors sledgehammers home the point that people’s adult actions are greatly imbued with their childhood behaviors. And because the […]
Astrology: Film: ‘This Is the End’ (2013)
June 12, 2013 by
In this Los Angeles slice of life – starring James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera and Emma Watson playing themselves – something wicked this way comes. This Is the End says hello to the Apocalypse, which ushers in Plutonian themes of death, spiritual transformation and, even as […]
Film: ‘The Guilt Trip’ (2012)
December 18, 2012 by
“The Guilt Trip” seems like an unassuming road-trip movie. On the surface, it’s about two travelers – a son whose lack of professional success is eating away at his self-esteem, and his mother whose love for her son fuels her eating. But the movie’s a lot more clever than that. Directed by Anne Fletcher, “The […]
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