Haywire
Film review by: Witney Seibold
Steven Soderbergh’s films are, when you look over his career, all over the map. He is a director who does not seem happy unless he’s breaking some sort of ground. (more…)
Hugo
Hugo
Film review by: Witney Seibold
Martin Scorsese‘s “Hugo” is a glorious and loving polemic about the magic of movies. We’ve heard plenty of marketing gurus chat endlessly about “capturing the imagination” and “making dreams come true,” but Scorsese seems to transcend the dry aphorisms be tapping into the actual process. (more…)
Hipsters
Hipsters
Film review by: Witney Seibold
There’s something hugely sexy about Valery Todorovsky’s energetic Cold War musical “Hipsters.” It is, after all, about well-dressed, well-coiffed, jazz-loving, cigarette-smoking, sexually promiscuous twentysomethings, using their love of music and dance to crack through the stuffy façade of Moscow’s repressive Communist regime. These kids are rebels in a very true sense, and I liked the occasional bouts of genuine punk rock rebellion that the film tried to achieve. (more…)
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)
Film review by: Witney Seibold
Is it weird to say that the magic is gone? (more…)
The Help
The Help
Film review by: Witney Seibold
There was a moment in Tate Taylor‘s “The Help” wherein the portly black cook/maid Minny (Octavia Jackson), while working for the busty blonde ditz Celia (Jessica Chastain), expounds ever so briefly on the spiritual benefits of fried chicken. “When you’re eating fried chicken,” Minny says, “All seems right with the world.” Celia beams happily, and Minny smiles back in quiet wisdom. The light pours in through the window, and covers the entire kitchen in a halcyon Hollywood light rarely seen outside of Chris Columbus movies. The gorgeous artifice of the scene, paired with the ever so subtly coded racism (twinges of the Magical Negro), had me throwing up my fist in a beautiful display of ironic triumph. (more…)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2
Film review by: Witney Seibold
I have now seen all eight films in the “Harry Potter” series, and I’m still a little unclear on one important detail: Why did the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) become so evil? (more…)
Hanna
Hanna
Film review by: Witney Seibold
The pleasures of Joe Wright’s killer teenager thriller lie in just how batshit crazy it is. (more…)
House (1977)
House (1977)
Film review by: Witney Seibold 
How do I describe Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 freakout film “House” to the uninitiated? Heck, how do I describe it to cult film veterans? (more…)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1
Film review by: Witney Seibold
I have to qualify this review right up front by stating that I actually did have a good time with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1,” and think that the filmmaking is perfectly adequate; David Yates seems to be improving as a director. So all of my ranting and complaining below are more of a general complaint than a nitpick on this film in particular. (more…)
