Reviews by Matthew Hill

Grindhouse

2007-04-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

“That was quite a piece of cinema,” said one random movie-goer to another as the audience let out of a matinee showing of Grindhouse. And you know: was exactly right. More than any other release I can think of, this Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature is more than just a movie. It’s an event, a filmic experience that’s meant to never let you forget that you’re sitting in a

A Hero Behind Heroes?

2006-09-26T17:08:00.001-07:00

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity It might seem a bit preemptive to be talking about NBC’s new drama, Heroes. After all, it just premiered. Only one episode has aired. One paltry hour of television . . . that’s it. But don’t worry: I’m not really here

Ruminations on a #$!@&%* Movie: A Snakes on a Plane Review

2006-08-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

Snakes on an Introduction: I wish this article could be short and sweet. Condensed and poetically perfect—just like the high-concept title of this film. Snakes on a Plane: as Josh Friedman put it, “the Everlasting Gobstopper of movie titles.” Who’s Josh Friedman you ask? He’s the screenwriter who wrote a brilliant blog entry and inadvertently created the pop-culture groundswell that put this

Existentialism and the Vine: The Ruins Book Review

2006-08-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

There’s something about the Kafkaesque. That bizarre, unescapable situation. Its being thrust forth, with no explanation, yet with a sense of destiny. Control. The resulting struggle, questionings, perhaps hope, perhaps angst/ennui, perhaps good ending, perhaps not—the inevitable character revelation and development that comes from being surrounded by the psychodramatic mirror of the

Clerks II

2006-07-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

Commencement.Alright, let’s get this out of the way first: Clerks II is wholly inappropriate and offensive. F-bombs drop without a second thought. Drug references abound. Characters come off as intentionally nasty, yet unapologetic. Nothing, apparently, is sexually taboo. In other words, if you have delicate sensibilities, you’ll want to steer farther away from this movie than Jar Jar Binks

The Break-Up

2006-06-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

[spoilers lurk]I’m not sure why critics are panning this one. I liked it just fine. Actually, I thought The Break-Up was kind of noteworthy in some ways. Maybe saying so makes me a bad critic, but whatever. I’d say that this is definitely a movie worth seeing, and as usual, there’s also some spiritual insight to be had here as well.So, what makes me a bad critic in this case? Like I said, I

V for Vendetta

2006-03-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

—1. Overview—2. Cast and Crew—3. Photo Pages—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack—5. Posters (Natalie Portman)—6. Production Notes (pdf)—7. Spiritual Connections—8. Presentation DownloadsI guess I thought V for Vendetta would strike me as more radical than it did. More anarchist, more punk rock, more controversial. I thought people would be talking about the movie afterwards, feeling some

The Cult of Lost

2006-01-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

What is it with this show? I’m obsessed with it. When Wednesday rolls around, I—and most of my co-workers, friends, and family—refer to the day as “Lost Day.” On “Lost Day,” we speak mainly of Lost, we make sure not to call each others’ houses between 9 and 10 (Lost is on, you heathen!), and we visit sites like thefuselage.com before airtime to brush up on the latest Lost theories and

Walk the Line

2005-11-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

—1. Overview (multimedia)—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)—3. Reviews and Blogs—4. Cast and Crew—5. Photo Pages—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack—7. Posters (Joaquin Phoenix)—8. Production Notes (pdf)—9. Spiritual Connections—10. Presentation Downloads “You can’t help nobody if you can’t tell them the right story.” So says young J.R. Cash’s brother Jack early in this film. Well,

The 40 Year-Old Virgin

2005-08-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

—Overview—Photos—About this Film—Spiritual Connections I’m not sure what’s happening this summer with Wedding Crashers and this movie—both unapologetically R-rated in a world of endless PG-13s, both unabashedly un-PC, both hilarious yet oftentimes awkward to watch with a theater full of strangers, yet both with “hearts of gold” when it comes down to it. I’m not sure what’s

White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan

2005-07-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

--Over view--Music IndexGet Behind Me Satan is elemental. Natural. It’s about the most simple, most primordial, most universal, most basic, yet most personally dramatic experiences that people can have: love, betrayal, longing, reversals of fortune, frustration, death, coming to terms. The album’s minimalist approach to instrumentation matches its minimalist approach to theme—its

Wedding Crashers

2005-07-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

—Overview—Photos—About this Film—Spiritual Connections Wedding Crashers starts off with a great premise, degenerates into raunchy American Pie/Meet the Parents shtick, finally resorts to romantic comedy clichés, and for the most part, I loved it. Wilson and Vaughn, each playing off his own well-established movie (and public) persona, hold this film together enough to make it worth a watch.

Weezer: Make Believe

2005-07-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

-- Overview— Music review index If you went to school during the 90s (like I did), then you probably remember Weezer. “Oh, yeah—the ‘Buddy Holly’ guys!” you’ll say. Or maybe: “yeah, the ‘Sweater Song’ guys,” or “yeah, the ‘Say It Ain’t So’ guys.” In any case, Weezer is “back.” But if you’re a real Weezer fan, you know that the “Hash Pipe” guys never went anywhere. Over the past 10

System of a Down: Mezmerize

2005-06-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

--HJ Overview--Music Review IndexWhen “Sugar” came out back in 1998, I knew that System of a Down was a very . . . um . . . different band. Imagine pseudo-jazz high-hat, walking bass lines, syncopated crunching guitars, and schizophrenic nonsense lyrics, all chirped out in grandiose fashion, and you’ll kind of have an idea of what that song was like. I was completely taken. Then I was taken by

Star Wars III: A Philosophical Caveat (rant) and (mini) Review

2005-05-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

I know, I know . . . we don’t need another Episode III review. But don’t worry—this is not a review. Enough things have been said about this movie by enough people, and I have nothing really to add to the discussion of the movie as a movie. All I want to do is point out something that Lucas tries to do with this film, philosophically, that just cannot be done.But before I get to that, I can’t

Kung Fu Hustle

2005-05-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

—Overview—Photos—About this Film pdf—Spiritual Connections I can safely say, without a hint of hyperbole, that Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. But at the same time, it’s like lots of things you’ve seen before. It’s very Eastern, yet it’s very Western. It’s like a traditional martial arts movie, yet it isn’t. It’s a drama, it’s a comedy. It’s touching, it

Sin City

2005-04-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

—Overview —Photos —About this Film pdf —Spiritual Connections So I’m sittin’ here in this movie theater. It’s quiet. Dark. Illuminated only by the projector—spinning its myriad of previews—which cuts through the darkness like glass through a fist. And it smells the way a theater should smell. And the audience . . . well, there’s no time to wax poetic. I got

Hitch

2005-02-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

—Overview—Trailers, Photos—About this Film—Spiritual Connections Sometimes the romantic comedy formula seems dead. I mean, how many last-minute-realization/mad-dash-to-the-airport scenes can we endure? How many quirky best friend characters? How many predictably happy endings? But still, I for one don’t mind seeing a well-worn formula done well—after all, formulas become formulas

The Phantom of the Opera

2005-02-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

—Overview —Trailers, Photos —About this Film —Spiritual Connections Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera is a hard movie to review. I mean, what do you focus on? The acting? That’s been influenced by years of stage and film actors’ interpretations. The music? Again, this film version is very close to Webber’s original score, used for years in the stage production. The sets and costumes

Finding Neverland

2004-12-15T11:36:00.000-08:00

—Overview —Trailers, Photos —About this Film —Spiritual Connections Beautiful. Poignant. Magical. I keep running words through my head that will describe this movie. Meaningful? Yes. Quiet? Yes, it was quiet—if that word can be used for a movie. Really, it was so quiet, I swear that a fellow audience member gave me one of those

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

2004-11-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

—Review —Before & After Photos —About the Series —Episode Examples —About the Cast —Spiritual Connections So I’m sitting here with my wife, watching this show for at least the seventh or eighth time without really meaning to, and I start thinking: I like this show. It works. It’s not as if I plan to watch it, but it’

Chicago

2004-10-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

Overview -click here Trailers, Photos -click here About this Film -click here Spiritual Connections -click here “How can they hear the truth above the roar?” Chicago, for my money, has got to be one of the most well rounded movies ever made. The cast shines, the production is impeccable, the story is engaging, the music

Friday Night Lights

2004-10-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

—Overview —Trailers, Photos —About this Film pdf file —Spiritual Connections This is one heavy movie. From its droning opening sequence, to its anti-climactic ending, the whole movie just makes the viewer feel the weight of the characters’ football-induced oppression. Odessa feels like a war zone, with everyone either grimacing under

Collateral

2004-08-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

—Overview —Trailers, Photos —About this Film —Spiritual Connections I know what the word “collateral” means. I also think I know why the filmmaker chose the title—it fits with the premise of one character basically “holding” another character throughout the movie, as one holds something as collateral. Still, when I started thinking