By Brian Lafferty

October 7, 2011 (San Diego) – The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is a challenging movie not just in content but also in making me think about my response to it. It’s so easy for a critic to say that he likes or dislikes a film, especially when engaging in dialogue, rather than written expression. When a movie like this comes along, it’s not so black and white.

By Brian Lafferty

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is playing only at midnight tonight and Saturday night at the Ken Cinema.

By Brian Lafferty

September 23, 2011 (San Diego) – A few years ago I watched the 1959 version of Ben-Hur. I sat in my seat mesmerized, so hooked that I did not take a single break during the entire three hours and forty-five minutes (which included the overture and intermission).

By Brian Lafferty

September 9, 2011 (San Diego) – Mozart’s Sister is the year’s leading candidate for the year’s dullest film. During the two hour running time I counted only three instances of mental stimulation and they were as brief as they could get. This is one of those movies in which there is absolutely nothing to think about.

By Brian Lafferty

September 2, 2011 (San Diego) – Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali. David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead. Kevin Smith’s Clerks. What does Evan Glodell’s Bellflower have in common with all these films? They are all great movies shot on shoestring budgets.

By Brian Lafferty

August 24, 2011 (San Diego) – The story is formulaic. The voice acting is rarely expressive. The musical numbers are largely forgettable except for one that will play on a loop in your head for a few days after you watch it. But nevermind. I sat in amazement while watching the Blu-Ray of Rio, not wanting to blink lest I miss a single frame of the animation.

By Brian Lafferty

August 24, 2011 (San Diego) – The first five minutes of The Woman on the Beach are ominous, spellbinding and foreboding. Hanns Eisler’s booming and menacing score accompany the opening credits. The frame is backdropped with shots of the alluring beach and its forceful, foamy, and frothy tide. It’s a simple sequence of shots, but they’re chilling.

By Brian Lafferty

August 17, 2011 (San Diego) -- I’m sure many of you are wondering about the absence of columns. I feel it’s required of me to explain.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I lost my mother last November from aggressive and invasive breast cancer. It was so aggressive that doctors believed that by the time she discovered something was wrong it was already too late.

By Brian Lafferty

August 11, 2011 (San Diego) – It can get really eerie when a movie parallels your life. The Tree does so for me, striking a powerful emotional cord.

By Brian Lafferty

July 21, 2011 (San Diego) – Cedar Rapids is the type of comedy I would expect from Fox Searchlight Pictures, the subsidiary of 20th Century Fox that specializes in independent film. If it was 20th Century Fox distributing the movie (which stars Ed Helms of The Office and The Hangover as well as John C. Reilly) we’d have a raunchy, broadly-humored comedy.

By Brian Lafferty

July 9, 2011 (San Diego) – The Trip is a Reader’s Digest condensed version of the hit British TV sitcom of the same name. Normally sitcoms and cinema go as well together as peanut butter and mayonnaise. Director Michael Winterbottom reverses this trend with a film that makes a smooth transition from the small screen to the big screen.

By Brian Lafferty

June 19, 2011 (San Diego) – I was at a movie theater recently when a friend of the projectionist asked me if I knew any jokes. I leafed through the “books” of my mental library trying to find one but I couldn’t. I was content to let him rattle off a series of jokes and listen. Later that day I remembered a few jokes that I found funny. But even then I wouldn’t have told them.

By Brian Lafferty

June 3, 2011 (San Diego) – Ever since my mother died there have been times when I've imagined my mother’s spirit being around me. I fantasize being able to speak to her, telling her how I feel, asking her what it’s like on the other side.

By Brian Lafferty

May 23, 2011 (San Diego) – Today’s Netflix Streaming Pick of the Week is inspired by this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped up yesterday. The film world has been abuzz with Cannes fever including, but not limited to, Lars Von Trier’s controversial Hitler remarks and the Palme d’Or going to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life.