Haiku Review: Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Denis O’Hare & Steve Zahn
Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée

Based on the true story of Ron Woodroof, who, in the 80s and early 90s, set up a distribution ring of experimental and non-FDA-approved medication for desperate and neglected AIDS patients after discovering that he had contracted the disease – and that conventional American treatments were corrupted by poor bureaucracy.


McConaughey is
finally the actor we
all thought he would be.

Grade: A-


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Dallas Buyers Club is playing now in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790636/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

Haiku Review: Snitch (2013)

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper, Jon Bernthal, Michael K. Williams, Melina Kanakaredes, Benjamin Bratt & Susan Sarandon
Written by Justin Haythe and Ric Roman Waugh
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh

When a man’s son is arrested for narcotics possession, he makes a deal to infiltrate a local drug ring to reduce his son’s sentence, but soon finds himself in over his head with a Mexican cartel.


Can you smell what The
Rock is cooking? I’m worried
that it might be meth.

Grade: B-


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Snitch is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0882977/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Haiku Review: The House I Live In (2012)

Featuring: David Simon
Written and directed by Eugene Jarecki

A documentary about the War on Drugs, and the dramatic toll it has taken on the United States, its criminal justice system, and its economy.


The War on Drugs failed
long before you got your weed
card for swimmer’s ear.

Grade: A-


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The House I Live In is now playing in select cities and on VOD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125653/

Haiku Review: Arbitrage (2012)

Starring: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth & Brit Marling
Written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki

A corrupt business tycoon finds the sale of his company threatened while trying to cover up both fraudulent bookkeeping and a scandalous accident.


Hey, it’s hard out there
for a corrupt, entitled
corporate sleazebag.

Grade: A-


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Arbitrage is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/21/12.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764183/

Haiku Review: Lincoln (2012)

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes & Jackie Earle Haley
Screenplay by Tony Kushner
Directed by Steven Spielberg

During the final months of his presidency, Abraham Lincoln struggles to gain support for the 13th Amendment, which would abolish slavery, and which he believes must be done before the Civil War ends in order to succeed.


…and everyone lived
equally ever after
for all time. [crickets]

Grade: A-


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Lincoln is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Bernie (2012)

Starring: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine & Matthew McConaughey
Screenplay by Richard Linklater & Skip Hollandsworth
Directed by Richard Linklater

Based on the true story of Bernie Tiede, who was so beloved by the members of his small Texas town, that when he befriended a wealthy, mean-spirited woman, took over her finances, and then murdered her, the townsfolk largely took his side.


Nice guys don’t kill. So
says ignorant small-town folks
who vote, reproduce.

Grade: B+


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Bernie is available on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704573/

Haiku Review: Detropia (2012)

Directed by Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady

A documentary about Detroit, the fastest shrinking city in America, and its economic and social challenges.


Thousands of stories,
and this doc fails to find a
strong one for anchor.

Grade: C+


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Detropia has not yet been released.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125490/
TCFF 12-17

Haiku Review: Blackmail (1929)

Starring: Anny Ondra, John Longden & Donald Calthrop
Adapted and directed by Alfred Hitchcock

When a young woman kills a man in self defense and her detective boyfriend helps cover it up, the two find themselves being blackmailed by someone who can place her at the scene of the crime.


This silent Hitchcock
shows that you don’t need words to
watch a good stabbing.

Grade: B-


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Blackmail is available on DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019702/
TCFF 12-16

Haiku Review: Scenes of a Crime (2012)

Directed by Grover Babcock & Blue Hadaegh

A documentary that profiles the case of an African-American man who, after over 10 hours of police interrogation, was manipulated into confessing to the murder of his infant son and is currently serving a 25 year sentence, despite the fact that evidence revealed the child had died of natural causes.


Guess who doesn’t like
to admit when they’re wrong? The
U.S. court system!

Grade: B


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Scenes of a Crime has not yet been released.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1906456/
TCFF 12-14

Haiku Review: West of Memphis (2012)

Written by Amy Berg & Billy McMillin
Directed by Amy Berg

Produced by Peter Jackson, this documentary follows the saga of the West Memphis Three, a trio of men who served nearly 20 years in jail for murders they did not commit.


It’s three Paradise
Lost movies rolled into one
(and still worth watching).

Grade: A


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
West of Memphis opens in select cities on 12/28/12.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2130321/
TCFF 12-13