Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

Owning Mahoney

(2003)

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver. Excellent work by both, in a based-on-fact story of a compulsive gambler who managed to steal an amazing amount of money from the bank where he worked for an amazingly long time.

The Ox-Bow Incident

(1943)

Hollywood made so many crappy westerns—Saturday matinee serials, “singing cowboys” in ridiculous outfits, endless B and C movies—that I sometimes forget that some of the best movies ever made were in a western setting. I can easily think of a dozen. This, which I had somehow never seen, can stand with any of them. Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan ride into a dusty little shithole in Nevada and ... Read more »

Oz the Great and Powerful

(2013)

I don’t see a lot of 3D movies. Partly it’s the extra expense, and partly it’s that I don’t think it really enhances most movies. I’m fine with the flat. But every once in a while I figure I’ll sample the technology again. I did it with Avatar, which was greatly enhanced by 3D, and with Hugo, which didn’t really need it. This one looked ... Read more »