Black Swan – 2010

Darren Aronofsky is a master of the weird. Every movie in his library takes places in some weird universe or does something conceptually bizarre to the mind. The latter is the case in Black Swan. This film takes a character who is so repressed and bound for perfection that she cannot see that her own […]

Shock Corridor – 1963

Mental illness has always been a hot-button issue in the film industry and films about the insane have the potential to be great or to be highly insensitive. Samuel Fuller sought to make a film that would shine a light on the treatment and the state of the mentally ill. Shock Corridor focuses on a […]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – 2011

The spy thriller has been a staple of cinema ever since James Bond first graced the silver screen. But as compelling as Bond may be, it is the works of John le Carre who represent the most thrilling aspects of the spy film. Set in the aftermath of the Cold War, this film focuses on […]

Π – 1998

The origin of a filmmaker is often traced back to his/her first movie. Darren Aronofsky first came onto the scene with Pi, a psychological thriller focused on the role of math in nature and human existence. The focus of the film is Max who suffers an obsession with numbers, his savant like focus on the […]

Margin Call – 2011

J.C. Chandor is an up-and-comer. He has only directed three features in his short career, but all three have been standouts. Margin Call is his first film and it is easily his most ambitious. The film focuses on the financial crisis of 2008 and is perfect in its execution and understanding of the issues that […]

Nightcrawler – 2014

Nightcrawler sounds like it is a movie about a gaunt man who invades people’s lives and generally acts creepy. In this case, the title proves completely accurate. Jake Gyllenhaal gives the performance of his career as Lou Bloom a broke criminal who becomes obsessed with filming violent crimes and selling the footage to a local […]