Movie Review Sharp Stick

Sharp Stick

Directed by Lena Dunham

Written by Lena Dunham

Starring Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman, Lena Dunham

Release Date July 29th, 2022

Sharp Stick is an utterly bizarre and deeply off-putting new movie from writer-director Lena Dunham. Now, before you start on the assumption that I am one of those people who hate anything related to Lena Dunham, I assure you that is not the case. I, like most others, found Dunham through her HBO series Girls, and I have been a fan of her sharp, and offbeat work since that series began and ended. 

I’ve been eagerly awaiting Dunham’s next project as Girls showed a lot of potential for the growth of her talent as a writer. I’ve also not paid much attention to her social media where I am told she’s made many unfortunate statements that I am not eager to investigate. Bottom line, I didn’t go into Sharp Stick with a negative opinion of Dunham but I did come away with a very negative opinion of this film.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Written by Quentin Tarantino

Starring Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi

Released October 9th, 1992

It seems hard to believe now, but in the early 1990's Harvey Keitel was having a hard time finding work. While his close friends Martin Scorsese and Robert Deniro were scoring bigger and bigger films, Keitel was turning away stereotypical thug roles that played too much off his legendary character from Mean Streets. Keitel hadn't worked in a couple years when a hyperactive, young, writer-director named Quentin Tarentino accosted him. Tarentino offered Keitel the role of Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs after writing the role with Keitel in mind. What might have happened had he said no? Thankfully we will never know.

In a diner on the outskirts of Los Angeles a group of similarly dressed guys sit around a table and discuss the true meaning behind Madonna's song “Like A Virgin” and the various reasons to tip and not to tip. Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Brown (Tarantino), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) and Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), have been called together by Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) to rob a jewelry store of a couple million dollars worth of uncut diamonds.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Scream

Scream 

Directed by Wes Craven

Written by Kevin Williamson 

Starring Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard

Released December 2oth, 1996 

Scream was a flashpoint in the horror genre of the mid to late 1990s. Some credit a smart marketing campaign, the film was distributed by Dimension Films, a branch of then indie powerhouse Miramax. Putting aside all that we know about Harvey Weinstein and his company, they made Scream a phenomenon through incredible word of mouth at a time when the horror genre was at the lowest of lows. 

In the previous year to the release of Scream, the highest grossing horror movie of 1995 ranked 82nd overall in theatrical gross and brought in just $21 million dollars in worldwide sales. That movie was Tales From the Crypt: Demon Night. Now, in terms of business, that movie did make money and there was a strong business model in terms of low budget horror and $20 million dollars in revenue. But, the genre was truly at its lowest in terms of reputation and cultural impact until Scream came along.

Find my full length review at Horror.Media, linked here.