Category: Movie of the Week

Movie of the Week: ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’

Jeff Mitchell

“Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” (2007) – Sidney Lumet orchestrates a jewelry heist gone horribly wrong in his last film.  This is a dark and twisted crime movie – told in a non-linear fashion – in which the immoral and desperate aforementioned infraction can only be matched by the flawed human beings – with years of preceding mistakes – who concocted it. Two brothers, Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke) are at the center of the storm. Andy is a white-collar executive and suffers from a dysfunctional…

Movie of the Week: ‘Frankenstein’

Jeff Mitchell

“Frankenstein” (1931) – Even 90 years after its initial release, this monster movie classic holds up. Although not particularly frightening, director James Whale’s picture hits an 11 on the disturbing scale and is essential for anyone who has never seen it (or hasn’t seen it in a long time). Sure, we’ve all been dumbed down by experiencing Frankenstein’s Monster in seemingly hundreds of incarnations and, especially, spoofs (“The Munsters”, “Young Frankenstein” and even “Weird Science” immediately come to mind), but after viewing “Frankenstein”, you’ll be easily reminded why the story remains…

Movie of the Week: ‘The Howling’

Jeff Mitchell

“The Howling” (1981) – If you haven’t guessed, “The Howling” is a werewolf movie, but 45 minutes into Joe Dante’s (“Piranha” (1978), “Gremlins” (1984)) 91-minute picture, you wouldn’t know it. He spends nearly half of his film’s runtime establishing his leads, supporting characters, and the setting, but it’s all worth the wait. Early in the movie’s first act, L.A. television reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace) plays the bait and helps police catch her own stalker, but the harrowing experience left her with a brief case of amnesia.  A TV doctor,…