By Aaron Thies Trying to explain the movie Rubber is like trying to lead a pep assembly full of teenagers in a cheer: it’s going to be messy, so bear with me. The central point Rubber revolves around is the cinematic element of “no reason,” which is basically writer/director Quentin Dupieux’s way of saying, “I don’t get it either.” This movie would be extremely hard … Continue reading Movies: Rubber Defies Reason and Entertains

by: Alan Smithee When I was about 8 years old I was done with Disney, done with PBS, even done with Cartoon Network. I didn’t want to be a kid anymore, I wanted to be treated like an adult; I wanted to go to bed later than 8:30, I wanted to go trick or treating all by myself, I wanted to dress myself! My parents … Continue reading The Movie Buff Looks Back on Gummo

by: Alan Smithee When I review “Modern Masterpieces” they have to be considered good films. Not just by critics, but by me too. The thing I like about the Look Backs is there is no “good” or “masterpiece” in the title. I can talk about any older film I want and it doesn’t even have to be good! Now just by my saying that does … Continue reading Movie Buff Looks Back on Faust

by: Alan Smithee Why does everyone love ninjas so much? They are ruthless. They kill whatever they want for their own gain. But why does everyone seem to look at them as the good guys? “They were rebels against the system” yeah, yeah, cool, cool. But most of them were dirty rapists, thieves, and they terrorized people. Samurais, on the other hand, go by a … Continue reading The Movie Buff Looks Back on Ghost Dog

by: Alan Smithee What do you consider horror? Spooky atmosphere, creepy music, messing with your head? No, modern people don’t see horror as that. They see gore, they see people being eaten, they see shaky cameras. That’s not the same. If you want to find some good old creepy horror films, look to lower budget movies. Think about it like this. They barely have any … Continue reading The Movie Buff Looks Back on: Nails

by: Alan Smithee Remember the film Tron? Back in 1982 there was no film to compare it to. Before 2010 when they made the second film, there was still no film to compare it to. It took the video game world and translated it into film; it looked as if the people making the film jumped inside an Atari game and filmed everything they saw. … Continue reading A Movie Buff Modern Masterpiece: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

by: Alan Smithee Love is in the air people! Cupid has been shooting off some arrows! But some of those arrows have gone right through the heart . . . literally. Remember The Prowler that was a part of the hit 80s sub-genre of horror “slasher” films? Did you know that there were a lot of holiday slashers? True story! Films like the oh so … Continue reading The Movie Buff Looks Back on My Bloody Valentine

by: Alan Smithee Demons is an Italian horror film from the 80s. A lot of Italian horror directors try to make their films artsy, or have a fresh story, or have complex characters. This film has none of those! Who is to blame? Dario Argento. He is the producer and writer of this film. I can go on and on about how much he is … Continue reading The Movie Buff Looks Back on “Demons”

by: Alan Smithee Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t: I have had a theme going on for the last two weeks. Today will be the last of that. The theme you are wondering about is . . . Punk. It’s not just a genre of music, it’s the attitude of a whole generation. Is punk dead? Pretty much! People try to bring it back, but … Continue reading The Movie Buff Looks Back on SLC Punk

by: Alan Smithee Emilio Estevez is very famous for the “Breakfast Club,” but do I care? Of course not! Emilio will be remembered for Maximum Overdrive and Young Guns, oh! and REPO MAN! I swear this is one of the coolest movies I have ever seen. It has everything I look for in a movie: car chases, fights, punk music, good acting, oh, and aliens … Continue reading Movie Buff Looks Back on Repo Man

by: Alan Smithee Evil.   Do I think there is evil in the world? Oh yes, I do. Evil is everywhere, in everyone. But very few act out their evil thoughts, though there are just some people who want to see the world burn, and they light the fire. There many films about evil and one of my favorites is A Clock Work Orange, but I … Continue reading Movie Buff: A look back on Made in Britain

by: Alan Smithee In the past few years (mostly 2009-2011) a certain kind of film has come out that everyone talks about. Is it because of its good story? Is it because of the good acting? NOPE! It’s for a little thing called “CGI” that has taken over the movie world. Back in the 80’s they experimented with this “CGI”; it looked retro and cool, … Continue reading The Movie Buff’s Five Most Overrated Modern Movies

by: Alan Smithee I love comic books; my dad used to have the biggest collection when I was a kid, and I read almost all of them. When I was a kid I also had this thing for the dark and gritty–the things parents wouldn’t let their kids see! And comic books and movies helped me see that. I was seven years old when I … Continue reading The Movie Buff’s Modern Masterpieces: Kick Ass

by: Alan Smithee I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Sadly, there are no “modern Thanksgiving movies” that aren’t stupid gory horror films. So here is this heartwarming film, The Man from Nowhere, aka, The Movie That Almost Made Me Cry. Really! This film is very powerful. It’s a Korean film, and happens to be the highest grossing film in Korea for the year 2010. … Continue reading The Movie Buff’s Modern Masterpieces: The Man from Nowhere

by: Alan Smithee Philip K. Dick is one of my favorite writers. He has written many, many classics, such as Blade Runner, Minority Report, and my favorite, A Scanner Darkly. The book was written in 1977 and was inspired by his drug days in California and the effects they had on his life. So of course there had to be a movie of it! Now, … Continue reading The Movie Buff’s Modern Masterpieces: A Scanner Darkly

by: Alan Smithee Gaspar Noé is one of my favorite modern directors. He made the jaw dropping drama Irreversible and the bloody revenge tale I Stand Alone, but in 2009 came his latest classic Enter the Void.  The film is about an American drug dealer in Tokyo named Oscar. Oscar is shot by the police and has an out of body experience because of the … Continue reading A Movie Buff Modern Masterpiece: Enter the Void