by - November 15, 2012 2:28 pm
Big Screen Peter: Skyfall
James Bond is back once more in theaters. Like the two previous films starring Daniel Craig as Bond, the feel is a melding of grit and gloss: it attempts to…
Tag: big screen peter
by - November 5, 2012 12:16 pm
Big Screen Peter: The House I Live In
With Arkansas set to vote on Issue 5 (medical marijuana) in just a few short days, there is nothing more appropriate to see as a moviegoer (or citizen) than The…
by - October 18, 2012 4:21 pm
Big Screen Peter: Seven Psychopaths
Seven Psychopaths starts with promise, a kinetic pitter-patter conversation that instantly engages. This veers back-and-forth as the scene grows to a symphonic crescendo. The orchestrated buildup is breathtakingly energetic. And…
by - October 4, 2012 4:08 pm
Big Screen Peter: Looper
Looper is a futuristic Massacre of the Innocents. Unlike the passages found in the Gospel of Matthew, however, it is a cloaked search in reverse: a great attempt to quash…
by - September 20, 2012 5:12 pm
Big Screen Peter: Resident Evil: Retribution
There are two important things to remember about Resident Evil: Retribution. It'd be quicker to list its positive attributes than the negative. The entire franchise — that's four films for…
by - August 16, 2012 3:59 pm
Big Screen Peter: The Bourne Legacy
Like much of its action-packed ilk, The Bourne Legacy strains credulity at times. For a movie franchise based on engineered spies, this might be a bit obvious. However, much of…
by - August 2, 2012 4:12 pm
Big Screen Peter: The Dark Knight Rises
In The Dark Knight Rises, the third and supposed final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Gotham is plunged (once again!) into utter chaos. And while the previous two movies…
by - July 19, 2012 10:00 am
Big Screen Peter: Savages
Oliver Stone has a lot to say. From Platoon and Salvador to JFK and Wall Street, Stone has lain society bare with his cinematic diatribes. In Savages, however, a movie…
by - July 5, 2012 3:34 pm
Big Screen Peter: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Beasts of the Southern Wild is a stunning, unruly achievement. The movie bursts from the screen, both haunting and beautiful in ways rarely accomplished in film. And in so doing,…
by - June 21, 2012 1:10 pm
Big Screen Peter: Prometheus
The hype couldn't have been bigger for Prometheus. With carefully crafted trailers and unique virals, the movie seemed to destined to become a new cultural touchstone, both building on the…
by - June 6, 2012 7:10 pm
Big Screen Peter: Snow White and the Huntsman
Hollywood's second Snow White vehicle of the spring was released this past weekend. The first — Mirror, Mirror — was a wretched waste of time, completely disfiguring the tone of…
by - May 17, 2012 3:26 pm
Big Screen Peter: Bernie
Bernie is a dark-comedy par excellence. It's quirky humor with a razor sharp edge that rips the cover off of east Texas, somehow existing both as a searing riposte to…
by - May 3, 2012 11:52 am
Big Screen Peter: The Five Year Engagement
The Five Year Engagement brought tears to my eyes. Despite the clunky title, it offered a perfect mix of quirky humor and emotional resonance. It stars Jason Segel as Tom…
by - April 25, 2012 9:18 pm
Big Screen Peter: The Lucky One
The Lucky One, a new movie staring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, is taken from a Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. It recounts the tale of a Logan…
by - April 18, 2012 6:45 pm
Big Screen Peter: The Cabin in the Woods
There's a song from a Memphis rap duo that kicks off with the line, “No one expected the unexpected.” That introductory caveat could be used for Joss Whedon and Drew…
by - April 4, 2012 8:32 pm
Big Screen Peter: Mirror Mirror
This past Sunday was April Fools' Day. And the list of corporate and political pranks perpetrated by various entities this year is lengthy. If your first instinct each morning is…
by - March 28, 2012 5:55 pm
Big Screen Peter: The Hunger Games
Jennifer Lawrence came to prominence as 17-year-old Ree Dolly, the primary caregiver for her mentally ill mother and two younger siblings in Winter's Bone. The rustic poverty and unforgiving landscape…
by - March 21, 2012 7:09 pm
Big Screen Peter: 21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as two ne'er-do-well cops sent undercover to infiltrate an adolescent drug ring. There is plenty of ancillary action in 21 Jump…
by - March 14, 2012 2:09 pm
Big Screen Peter: Gosford Park
With the societal fever pitch surrounding Downton Abbey reaching a buzzing drone of late, I thought it apt to take a new look at one of Julian Fellowes earlier works,…
by - March 7, 2012 6:39 pm
Big Screen Peter: Project X
Project X is raunchy. It's misogynistic, it's bawdy, and all sorts of wrong. But it's also hilarious. The wrong is refreshing. It, like the recent Chronicle, is another in a…