3 Stars

In 1988, not that much was widely known about the escalating gang situation in Los Angeles. This was the time of the Showtime Lakers, Planet Hollywood, and Box Office Hits. No one wanted to hear that there was a war going on south of the 10 freeway that had, at that point, claimed thousands of lives. Perhaps it was because the victims in this war were almost exclusively young black and latino males. That is a wider topic that, fortunately,  as we sit in 2025, there have been

It's been 30 years since the murder trial of one Orenthal James Simpson where, despite a seemingly overwhelming amount of physical evidence, he was remarkably acquitted of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman. The whole saga was really the first time something of this magnitude had played out mostly on live television and, at the time, was a watershed moment in not only American history, but in the history of media itself. You could even make the poin

Depending on your point of view, Marvel films are either the best or the worst thing to happen to cinema. Personally, I lean towards the latter. Some might even go so far as to say that I'd rather watch my bare feet being slowly consumed by gnawing rodents than watch most of them, but who's to say. To me they all seem formulaic to the point of abject boredom. A manifestation of what is considered art for the iPhone generation. Every release seemed to quite obviously follow th

Before directing such crowd pleasers as 'Rocky' (1977) and 'The Karate Kid' (1984), John G. Avildsen was making his bones on the indie film circuit. He'd done a couple of not particularly noteworthy films before taking on 'Joe' in 1970. Little did he know that, despite the grim subject matter and unflinching portrayals of far right political viewpoints, this film would become a pretty significant success upon its release. It seemed to catch a wave that was bubbling at this ti

Al Pacino. You know him. You love him. You've attempted to impersonate Tony Montana's famous line "Say hello to my little friend!" in Pacino's utterly absurd Cuban lilt. You've gone wide-eyed and yelled "She's got a...GREAT ASS!" when you've had too many drinks and the term "Just when I thought I was out....they pull me back in" has become almost ubiquitous at this point. To put it in simple terms, Al Pacino is a Hollywood legend and not only is he responsible for some of the

2024 was a big year for Kendrick Lamar. After winning the softest rap battle ever with Drake ("You need therapy", "No, you need therapy"....what ever happened to 'that's why I f**ked yo' b**ch, you fat motherf**ker'), and being announced as the Superbowl halftime show headliner, things were already shaping up quite well. Then, out of nowhere, he dropped this album just in time to claim back his throne and remind everyone that is the best rapper in the game. All in all, quite

After soaring the heights with 'The French Connection' (1971) and 'The Exorcist' (1973), William Friedkin's next two efforts were considerable box office flops by comparison. This being despite the fact that one of them, 1977 classic 'Sorcerer', is one of the best films of the era. So by 1980, Friedkin found himself in the position of still being a coveted director, but his star was arguably on the decline. The fortunes of Al Pacino, on the other hand, were quite the opposite

'Romance' is the fourth studio album from the Irish outfit and marks their first big swing for the fences. Previously they had made their name with moody angst-ridden post-punk anthems but, while some of that is still present here, this album branches out into grander landscapes and is all the better for it. Supporting Arctic Monkeys on a vast US Tour has apparently widened the band's scope. Singer Grian Chatten is quoted as saying "I didn't want to write, like, a 'Champagne