New York Press | Eric Kohn | Movies+TV | Reviews | AAN.org

'Memorial Day': Boned and Readynew

Memorial Day displays major cojones with its graphic depiction of human brutality, but its in-your-face didacticism comes with loads of naivete.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 02-05-2009 | Reviews

Tags: drama films, Josh Fox, Memorial Day

'Donkey Punch': Butt It Hurtsnew

Oliver Blackburn’s British thriller offers a unique thrill: It indulges in juvenile scares by placing them in a larger canvas of sophisticated moods, developing the scenario with remarkably shrewd structural finesse.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 01-22-2009 | Reviews

Tags: horror movies, Donkey Punch, Oliver Blackburn

'Special' is for Every Guy Who Still Dreams He May be Superhumannew

A chronicle of mental decline masquerading as science fiction, Special stars perennial character actor Michael Rapaport as Les, a likable dolt whose momentary respite from the monotony of his life as a lonely meter maid comes from reading comic books.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 11-20-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Special, Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore, Michael Rapaport

Clark Gregg Chokes on 'Choke'new

Gregg embraces Chuck Palahniuk's faux nihilism at the expense of his characters.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 09-25-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Choke, Clark Gregg

Chris Eska's 'August Evening' Ponders the Troubled Assimilation of Illegal Immigrantsnew

With a healthy dose of good intentions, the film has the fine-tuned backbone of an observant family drama.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 09-04-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Immigration, August Evening, Chris Eska

The Homeless World Cup Gets Mainstream Exposure in 'Kicking It'new

The popularization of sports documentaries in recent years has allowed for the rise of a new genre dealing exclusively with fringe athletic pursuits, and the appeal of Kicking It falls between the intensity of furious quadriplegics in Murderball to the full-grown geeks reigning over the arcade world in King of Kong.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 06-26-2008 | Reviews

Tags: homelessness, poverty, documentary, Drama, Soccer, Colin Farrell, Kicking It, Susan Koch; Jeff Werner

Intelligent Steroid Doc Sees Both Sides of the Issuenew

Without endorsing use of the drug, Chris Bell, who's a bodybuilder himself, dives into the heated debates surrounding the maligned practice and finds something pretty damn close to an even-handed portrait, if not a fair and balanced one.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 05-29-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Drugs, documentary, steroids, Bigger, Stronger, Faster, body building, Chris Bell

Uwe Boll's 'Postal' Fails to Comprehend Its Own Corrupt Naturenew

Based on the mindlessly violent series of first-person shooters, Postal contains the same intensely farcical bloodshed, but it's Boll's knuckleheaded misinterpretation of topical humor that really gets me.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 05-22-2008 | Reviews

Tags: video games, comedy, Uwe Boll, action, Dave Foley, Chris Coppola, David Huddleston, Larry Thomas, Postal, Seymour Cassel, Zack Ward

Nobody Loves a Nobodynew

If David Lynch remade Taxi Driver with equal doses of Eraserhead and The Elephant Man, the result might look something like the drab existential loneliness of Ronald Bronstein's Frownland.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 03-06-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Frownland, Ronald Bronstein

Cartoon Courtnew

Chicago 10, Brett Morgen's highly original documentary about the Yippie massacre outside the Democratic National Convention of 1968, reminds us that this isn't the first time vivacity, rather than urgency, dictated activism.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 02-28-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Brett Morgen, Chicago 10

Global Village Slaughterhousenew

In structure and content, The Signal plays out like a cautionary quasi-zombie comedy for screen addicts. The threat lurks on mangled television and radio signals, hence the inescapable doom.

New York Press | Eric Kohn | 02-21-2008 | Reviews

Tags: David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry, The Signal