The Film Vault is a monthly feature designed to showcase critically-acclaimed films that had limited commercial release and/or success. Each feature highlights films that focus on a specific theme, genre, or technique designed to provide a greater understanding of film as an entertainment and art form. It has been a busy week on the indie […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Win Win” the Antithesis to the Year’s Big-Budget Comedy Offerings
A touching indie comedic yarn woven through with teen angst, the ennui of adulthood, and what it means to be a family, “Win Win” lives up to its namesake as a multi-faceted gem and the antithesis to the year’s big-budget comedy offerings. Disheartened attorney Mike Flaherty (Giamatti), who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Source Code”
In a 1999 interview for PBS’s “Nova,” quantum physicist Carl Sagan stated “If we could travel into the past, it’s mind-boggling what would be possible… The possible insights into our own past and nature and origins would be dazzling.” Playing off that idea, director Duncan Jones and writer Ben Ripley weave a complex narrative on […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules”
Deviating little from the previous incarnation of Jeff Kinney’s popular book series, this year’s entry plays out like a cross between a sitcom from the defunct TGIF lineup and a Farrelly brothers comedy for tweens. Heading back to middle school for the seventh grade, Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) and his brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick) find […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Limitless”
With the first sleeper hit of the first quarter of 2011, Bradley Cooper pulls off a dramatic action role as a man discovering the limits of the capable human intellect, a turn sure to help the actor’s burgeoning career. Originally a vehicle meant for Shia LaBeouf, who had to bow out after his motorcycle crash […]
Dagger Movie Night: “The Adjustment Bureau”
Sometime in the last year, Matt Damon developed a love for faux-philosophical films with religious overtones. Obviously he has forgotten the words of his friend, Ben Affleck: “What’ve I been telling you? You gotta do the safe picture. Then you can do the art picture. And sometimes, you have to go back to the well.” […]
Movie Review: “Hall Pass”
By Mark Special to The Dagger In the same year that comedic favorite “The Hangover” gets a sequel, “Hall Pass” just might give a strong opponent for best comedy of 2011. “Hall Pass” is crude and raunchy while maintain a heart of gold, but quite simply, it is hilarious. Rick and Fred (Owen Wilson and […]
Tito’s Netflix Queue: “Twelve and Holding,” “Son of Rambow”
By Mark Special to The Dagger The Queue is a monthly feature designed to showcase critically-acclaimed films that had limited commercial release and/or success. Each feature highlights films that focus on a specific theme, genre, or technique designed to provide a greater understanding of film as an entertainment and art form. If there is one […]
