Author Archive: Joe Sanders
Joe Sanders is a playwright and college instructor in Kalamazoo, MI. He has a master's degree in playwriting and a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Western Michigan University, where he currently teaches thought and writing.
Silver Case
Two wannabe crime bosses working in the film industry are having a silent war. Very silent. It’s not even clear if one of them is aware of it, but fortunately it’s not incredibly relevant to the film. On one side there’s the Senator (Eric Roberts), and on the other there’s the Master (Brad Light) and [...]
Tomorrow You’re Gone
In the days leading up to Charlie’s (Stephen Dorff) release from prison, he receives an encouraging letter from an old friend known as Buddha (Willem Dafoe). The letter contains a hidden message to kill a man named Ornay (Robert LaSardo) and so when Charlie gets out, he works to fulfill the Buddha’s request. Along the [...]
Liz & Dick
I voluntarily watched Liz & Dick a couple of months ago because I’m a fan of Paul Scheer’s podcast, How Did This Get Made? and I always try to watch the various terrible movies they’re going to discuss before listening to the episode. While Liz & Dick is among the better movies the podcast has [...]
Mighty Fine
Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri; The Usual Suspects) is willing to do whatever it takes to keep his business afloat. In that spirit, he moves his wife (Andie MacDowell), and two daughters (Jodelle Ferland and Rainey Qualley) to Louisiana so his business can take advantage of new southern tax credit legislation being proposed to the Senate. [...]
The Arrested Development Documentary Project
For three amazing seasons, Fox’s Arrested Development brought a fresh and intelligent new brand of comedy to our television screens. The show told the story of the dysfunctional and wealthy Bluth family. The patriarch George Sr (Jeffrey Tambor) was imprisoned for fraud, leaving the running of his company to his son Michael (Jason Bateman), who [...]
Desperate Acts of Magic
When Jason Kant (Joe Tyler Gold) loses his job as a software designer, he sees it as a sign that it’s time for him to pursue his true passion: magic. With the help of his best friend and established magician Steve Kramer (Jonathan Levit), Jason decides to enter a big magic competition in San Diego. [...]
K-11
When Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic) turns up in some kind of ward for the criminally insane, accused of killing his wife’s lover, I imagine he feels a bit like Alice; tumbling down the rabbit hole. He’s disoriented, drunk and/or high, with moments of lucidity but it takes him about half the film to really find [...]
The Syndicate – Series 1
Five co-workers at the local convenience store have formed a Syndicate, which apparently is a British colloquialism for a group of people who all chip in money toward a lottery ticket. When the group wins, and each collect nearly 4 million pounds, it understandably changes each of their lives in various ways. Each member of [...]
Not Suitable For Children
This is the second film I’ve seen Ryan Kwanten in after last year’s Griff The Invisible, and I continue to be impressed at how legitimately good of an actor he is, despite his portrayal of the idiot brother on HBO’s True Blood. Here, Kwanten plays an Australian party animal named Jonah whose life is turned [...]
Shadow People
I had a surreal moment at the beginning of my viewing of Shadow People. When we’re first introduced to the Charlie character, he’s hosting his late night radio show and we only hear his voice. He’s talking to a caller, who is asking about a girl he likes on facebook but doesn’t know how to [...]
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