Zero Dark Thirty

In her previous film, Kathryn Bigelow captured modern warfare unlike any other director. While others had made fast paced, action packed, gun blazing films, Bigelow focused on the slow, tension building, patient driven action that defines the state of modern war. She also was rewarded for her efforts by dominating awards season and winning the Best Director and Picture oscars over her ex-husband James Cameron. Needless to say when the news was released that Bigelow and  Mark Boal, who also wrote The Hurt Locker, were working together again I was excited. Add to the mix that the film was about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and you have cinema gold in your hands. Featuring a stellar cast including Jessica Chastain, Kyle Chandler, Chris Pratt, and Joel Edgerton and it seems that it is almost impossible to fail. With the potential through the roof, Bigelow has the potential to make an instant classic and capture one of the most important manhunts in recent history.


Zero Dark Thirty follows the driven Maya, a young recruit into the CIA after September 11, 2001 who has been assigned to the case of finding Osama Bin Laden. Starting at 9/11, the film follows the hunt and the long road to capturing the mastermind behind the attacks. Covering everything from detainee tortures to following bad leads, the hunt pushes Maya to her limits as she has to fight back doubters and her leaders working against her. After losing friends through the war and almost losing hope, after almost a decade of looking, Maya believes she has found the house holding Osama Bin Laden. Maya must now work fast to get the facts to back up her beliefs and to convince the bureaucrats in Washington that she is correct in hopes to capture Bin Laden before it is all too late.

Run Lola Run

 Just when you start to think that the recent rapid increase in speed of Hollywood’s editing is a bad move for film making, a film comes along to show you how that editing can be done right. With 1,581 edits and an average shot length of 2.7 seconds, Run Lola Run is an absolute fun thrill ride that sucks you in immediately into a roller coaster of a film. Multiple timelines, loads of interesting characters, a suspense filled plot, and ultimate superior filmmaking at its finest make Run Lola Run an unforgettable cinematic experience that few movies can offer. Its a kick to the balls that cinema needs while also giving a nod to the classics of the past.





The film follows Lola, a red headed high pitch screaming girl, who receives a phone call one day from her boyfriend, Manni, who has failed to complete a 100,000 marks gangster deal and will be killed if he cannot collect the money by noon. Giving Lola 20 minutes, she must figure out how to collect the money and save Manni before things turn from bad to worse.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

One of my favorite things about watching independent films is that we get to see creativity and imagination not suppressed by the studio system. I’m not necessarily critiquing the studios at all just nothing that independent films have a certain freedom that creates some of the best films we have ever seen. I think of Blue Valentine, Little Miss Sunshine, Shame, Hunger, and many more as just a few examples of how much power a film can have when art is prioritized above money. This becomes much evident in Beasts Of The Southern Wild as another great example of independent film having all the power and story that studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild follows Hushpuppy, a young girl in Louisiana, who lives with her father Wink in Bathtub, an island off the coast of New Orleans. Bathtub is wild and energetic community full of bright characters who live each life to the fullest with plenty of food to go around. Wink tries to help grow Hushpuppy into a strong person and be able to take care of herself when he passes away. Things seem good in Bathtub until a horrible storm passes through and floods the entire island. With their home destroyed and resources quickly depleting, Hushpuppy must learn to grow up and take care of her dying father all while confronting her fears and dealing with the absence of her mother.