Articles written by Zachary Herrmann
All 40 articles written by Zachary Herrmann
Category: Film Dramas (general)
Like the film's crazed protagonist, New Orleans policeman Terrence McDonagh, Bad Lieutenant is a fascinating case of conflicted allegiances. more...
Pirate Radio Review: The Boat That Rocked Thanks To A Tighter Edit
Category: Comic Films
After a visiting to the cutting room floor, Pirate Radio (formerly titled The Boat That Rocked for UK audiences) emerges as a swift, cheeky British comedy. more...
Review - Disney's A Christmas Carol: In Which Robert Zemeckis Bungles Yet Another Classic
Category: Hollywood Animated Films
Some people never learn. A Christmas Carol is Robert Zemeckis's third motion capture feature, and still, he fails to understand the implications of the technology. more...
Category: Foreign Films (general)
Is it surprising Criterion has gone above and beyond in fleshing out the behind-the-scenes look at Wings of Desire? No. Is it still very much welcomed? Certainly. more...
Category: Independent Films (general)
There are many small pleasures to be had throughout the formidable An Education, none greater than the performance of the young talent Carey Mulligan. more...
Category: North American Film Festivals
Though the production value for all three Red Riding films are through the roof considering they were conceived for TV, the films are best viewed as a mini-series. more...
18 1/2 Philadelphia Film Festival - Friday: First in a Series of Three Reports From PFF
Category: North American Film Festivals
Sprawling, disappointing and immensely disturbing -- that's how the first full day of the PFF went, from Red Cliff to The Private Lives of Pippa Lee to Antichrist. more...
Category: Fantasy Films
Going boldly where so many bad children's book-adaptations have gone before, Where The Wild Things Are stays true to the source material, expanding on it wonderfully. more...
Zombieland Movie Review: Cutting Right Through the Funny Bone of the Undead
Category: Comic Films
Five years removed from Edgar Wright's instant zombie comedy classic, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland comes as an adrenaline-fueled disciple. more...
Toy Story 3D: A Look Back At Pixar's First Feature (and Sequel), Remastered in 3-D
Category: Animated Films (general)
Since 1995, the year of Pixar's first feature length release, the animation studio has grown in leaps and bounds. more...
Film Review - The Informant!: Matt Damon Stars in Steve Soderbergh's Manic Spy Film Parody
Category: Comic Films
Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns find the humor and insanity in the strange-but-true tale of Mark Whitacre. more...
Film Review - World's Greatest Dad: Robin Williams Stars in Best Teen Suicide Comedy Ever?
Category: Comic Films
And the award for gutsiest film of 2009 goes to - yes, that's right, Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad. more...
Film Review - Big Fan: The Sad Obsession Of a Sporting Life, From the Outside Looking In
Category: Comic Films
If anyone's got an answer to the assembly line, feel-good sports flick, it's Robert D. Siegel. The name may not immediately ring a bell. more...
Film Review - Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino Cooks Up an Awful Mess of WW II Carnage
Category: War Films
Inglourious Basterds may be one of the more interesting cinematic failures to come around this decade, and not only because it comes from the mind of Quentin Tarantino. more...
DVD Review - Julia: Tilda Swinton Carries Overlooked Indie Flick Into Stunning Territory
Category: Drama DVD Reviews
There's been a lot of talk, of late, between the supposed disconnect between film critics and the general, movie-going public. more...
Film Review - Ponyo: The Master of Japanese Animation Comes Up A Little Light
Category: Animated Films (general)
Among those in the know, Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's name is pretty much synonymous with imagination. more...
DVD Review - Repulsion: Criterion Gives a Terrific Single-Disc Release to Terrifying Film
Category: Drama DVD Reviews
There's not really a comfortable moment in Roman Polanksi's appropriately-titled second feature film, Repulsion. more...
Film Review - Bruno: Sacha Baron Cohen Falls Short of Borat's Comedic Heights With Bruno
Category: Comic Films
With American ignorance and intolerance once again in his sight lines, Cohen returns with Bruno, the haphazard follow up to the praised and crazed Borat. more...
Tokyo! on DVD - Shaking Tokyo and Extras: Korean Director Bong Joon-Ho Directs Short Film
Category: Drama DVD Reviews
Three short films pay homage to the fascinating Japanese city. more...
DVD Review: Waltz With Bashir: A Look at the DVD Release of Ari Folman's Award-Winning Film
Category: Drama DVD Reviews
So few films manage to, as Orson Welles once put it, show audiences what they never thought was possible. But with Waltz With Bashir, Ari Folman does just that. more...
Fantastic Mr. Fox review: Wes Anderson Goes Stop-Motion With Adaptation of Roald Dahl Story
Category: Animated Films (general)
The year of George Clooney continues with Anderson's wonderfully anachronistic approach to stop-motion animation, and what could be the Texas auteur's most mature film. more...
Category: Hollywood Animated Films
As if the bastardization of the story elements weren't bad enough, Zemeckis undermines the drama in A Christmas Carol with his preferred medium: motion capture animation. more...
Review: Wings of Desire DVD: Criterion Collection Revels In Wim Wenders' Dream Of A Film
Category: Foreign Films (general)
It's a wonder Wings of Desire avoids feeling sentimental or hokey -- after all, the film is a grand statement on life and death, told from the perspective of angels. more...
Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Saphire: A Review of the Lee Daniels Film Adaptation
Category: Film Dramas (general)
Short of Antichrist, few movies released in theaters this year exhibit more pain and suffering than the Sundance standout Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Saphire. more...
Red Riding 1980 and 1983: A Look at The Second Two Films In BBC's Trilogy
Category: North American Film Festivals
1974 kicks Red Riding off with sorrow and indignation. Unfortunately, as the mystery unravels into the 1980s, the narrative power dissipates. more...
18 1/2 Philadelphia Film Festival - Saturday: Second in a Series of Three Reports From PFF
Category: North American Film Festivals
Nothing on Saturday was half as impacting as Antichrist, however, Bronson represents one of the season's outstanding character performances. more...
A Serious Man Film Review: Coen Brothers Wreak Holy Retribution All Over Jewish Middle America
Category: Comic Films
As one of the Coen Brothers' most bizarre and intellectual films, A Serious Man is one heck of a cosmic joke taken at the expense of its main character. more...
Review: Where The Wild Things Are: Spike Jonze Pulls Off Big Screen Adaptation of Classic Book
Category: Fantasy Films
Going boldly where so many bad children's book-adaptations have gone before, Where The Wild Things Are stays true to the source material, expanding on it wonderfully. more...
Category: Romantic Films/Comedies (general)
Whip It! -- Drew Barrymore's debut film as a director -- plays by all the rules, but charm and good casting go a long way in this case. more...
Jennifer's Body Film Review: Megan Fox Stars in Juno Writer's Awful Stab at Campy Horror
Category: Horror Films (general)
Following her Oscar win for Best Screenplay for the clever (if overly smug) Juno, Diablo Cody delivers Jennifer's Body, a horror film that is neither funny nor scary. more...
Film Review - 9: After The Apocalypse, Twill Puppets Fight To Save Humanity
Category: Animated Films (general)
Man creates machine, machine outsmarts and destroys man ... twill puppets fight to save what's left of the world? more...
Film Review - Extract: Careful, Mike Judge's Quiet Little Comedy Is Soft Around The Edges
Category: Comic Films
Who would've thought the guy behind Beavis and Butt-Head would turn out to be such a moralist? more...
Film Preview - Avatar: A Brief Glimpse at James Cameron's Latest From Worldwide Avatar Day
Category: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films (general)
James Cameron and 20th Century Fox's public relations machine are claiming that Cameron's upcoming Avatar is a movie without precedent. more...
Film Review - Cold Souls: Sophia Barthes Puts Existentialism on Ice in Feature Debut
Category: Independent Films (general)
In summing up Cold Souls, it'd be far too easy to cheekily refer to the film as Being Paul Giamatti or Eternal Sunshine of the Soulless Mind (sorry, couldn't resist). more...
Film Review - District 9: Neill Blomkamp Hits Genre Heaven in Dicey Sci-Fi Debut
Category: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films (general)
It's been a long time since there's been a hard, R-rated piece of sci-fi genre work as good as District 9. more...
Film Review - Funny People: Judd Apatow Pulls Off an Impressive Balance of Comedy and Drama
Category: Comic Films
Don't look now, but Team Apatow has grown up. Those lovable man-boy schlubs aren't just cracking wise about masturbation and defecation anymore. more...
Category: Independent Films (general)
(500) Days of Summer -- a bright, little anti-love love story -- declare its central relationship as "modern", but don't be fooled. This is a post-modernist tale. more...
Film Review - Moon: First timer Duncan Jones delivers a taut little space thriller
Category: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films (general)
It's sort of sad to refer to Moon as a throwback, but Duncan Jones's feature debut is just that. more...
Category: Drama DVD Reviews
Far less hokey than Paris Je T'Aime's ode to its titular city, Tokyo! is a fascinating account of the Japanese metropolis from the eyes of three talented foreigners. more...
Film Review: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992): A Look Back at Coppola's Take on the Classic Vampire Tale
Category: Film Dramas (general)
In case you haven't noticed, vampires are so in right now. Thank HBO's True Blood and the Twilight series (the books and movies) for covering the generational spread. more...
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