Shyamalan struggles on the path to The Village

joaquin phoenix Archives - The Spool

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The Spool is an irreverent, informative source for film and television coverage, focused on diverse, thoughtful opinions that seek out a greater understanding of the media we love.

Columns

P.S.H. I Love You: “The Master” is the definitive role of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s career

We close out our year-long exploration of one of cinema's greatest artists with his mesmerizing turn as Lancaster Dodd.

Features

“8mm” is still up to snuff in delivering shock and repulsion

Joel Schumacher's sleazy, sweaty neo-noir of porn and pain remains a bizarre artifact for the director's filmography, and it hasn't lost its bite.

Features

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” welcomed Gus Van Sant to the indie-sphere

After a handful of missteps, Gus Van Sant regained his footing with a solid—if fittingly flawed—indie.

Features

Ambition is the eighth deadly sin in “To Die For”

Gus Van Sant and Buck Henry's darkly funny satire about toxic self-obsession features a memorably villainous turn by Nicole Kidman.

Here She Comes, Watch Your Step: 10 Pop Culture Femme Fatales

A look at some of our favorite movie & TV characters who used body & brains to get what they want -- even if it killed someone.

Box Office Report

Box Office Report: “Joker”‘s Opening Weekend Is Far From Damaged

Joker's box office take this opening weekend is nothing to laugh at, as the DC Comics experiment paid off handsomely for Warner Bros.

Joker Review: Let’s Put a Sneer On That Face

Todd Phillips' seedy, 3edgy5me imagining of the Clown Prince of Crime is as artfully made as it is disturbingly retrograde.

Columns

What to Watch on Streaming: Week of February 22nd, 2019

From food porn to mumblecore to frightening docs about the global economy, we tell you what to watch on streaming this weekend.

The Sisters Brothers Review: Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly Upend the Western

Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are a pair of offbeat gunslingers in Jacques Audiard’s unconventional, gorgeously energetic Western. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood The American Western has been told in every conceivable fashion, but they often feature the same sort of lead – a man who, when faced with great adversity, buries ... The Sisters Brothers Review: Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly Upend the Western

You Were Never Really Here Review: A Masterwork of Brutal Grindhouse Poetry

Lynne Ramsay follows We Need to Talk About Kevin with another masterwork on the cyclical traumas of violence, sporting a poetically grotesque performance from a haggard Joaquin Phoenix at its center. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Between Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar and We Need to Talk About Kevin, Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay has cemented ... You Were Never Really Here Review: A Masterwork of Brutal Grindhouse Poetry

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Shyamalan struggles on the path to The Village

Signs and the Mediated Apocalypse

C’mon C’mon is a beautiful breath of fresh air

P.S.H. I Love You: “The Master” is the definitive role of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s career

“8mm” is still up to snuff in delivering shock and repulsion

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” welcomed Gus Van Sant to the indie-sphere

Ambition is the eighth deadly sin in “To Die For”

Here She Comes, Watch Your Step: 10 Pop Culture Femme Fatales

Box Office Report: “Joker”‘s Opening Weekend Is Far From Damaged

Joker Review: Let’s Put a Sneer On That Face

What to Watch on Streaming: Week of February 22nd, 2019

The Sisters Brothers Review: Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly Upend the Western

You Were Never Really Here Review: A Masterwork of Brutal Grindhouse Poetry