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.
The Master
At the end of World War II, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix; Walk The Line) isn’t quite sure what to do with himself. A couple of real world temp jobs don’t work out, but Freddie’s talent for making his own liquor soon attracts the attention of ambitious renaissance man Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman; Synecdoche, New [...]
Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy
I was just wondering what happened to John Turturro. The extremely talented actor went from popping up in a plethora of great character roles to simply disappearing. This documentary shows Turturro’s journey home to Sicily, where he lived as a child and where he now hopes to train to be a puppeteer. I have a [...]
Enlightened – Season 1
Laura Dern attempts to join a long list of strong female characters in TV comedy with Enlightened. The series, which Dern co-created with executive producer Mike White, is about Amy, an executive in a big company who has a nervous breakdown after an affair with her boss (Charles Eston). Returning to work months later, having [...]
Joe Sanders’ Best Films of 2012
2012 has been a remarkable year for film. Though, I guess most years would seem amazing after 2011, but I imagine even with that dynamic juxtaposition, 2012 will be remembered as a great year for film with so many contributions from so many talents that have both pushed the boundaries of cinema and done some [...]
Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden
The assassination of Osama Bin Laden was one of the defining events of this decade and now nearly two years after the event, the film versions begin to come in. The one you’ve probably heard of is Zero Dark Thirty; directed by Academy Award Winner Katherine Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). I haven’t seen the film [...]
Django Unchained
The great thing about a Quentin Tarantino movie is that the director loves making films in seldom seen genres. Django Unchained is Tarantino’s spaghetti western, which is a genre I’m not at all personally familiar with but it’s easy to recognize certain conventions. The use of conspicuous camera zooms and modern music create a fun [...]
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
I recently had the pleasure of sitting through the extended cuts of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy back to back at the movie theater, and was pleasantly reminded of how much I really enjoy those films. They are an ambitious and fantastic accomplishment. I didn’t know what to expect going into The Hobbit: [...]
Collision Earth
This has got to be the first Syfy original movie I’ve seen that I didn’t know was a Syfy original when I started it. It’s pretty easy to figure out once it starts; you just have to be able to spot the trademark characteristics. First, a ridiculously impossible premise. From megasharks to icequakes, Syfy originals [...]
Ted
There is something very familiar about Ted, and yet the film is completely unique. Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane’s directorial debut tells the story of little John Bennett, a lonely kid with no friends who wishes his Teddy Bear would come to life. When John’s wish comes true, Ted is suddenly reminiscent of a dozen [...]
The Simpsons – Season 15
I was thrilled to get this fifteenth season of The Simpsons by mistake because it would give me an opportunity to discuss the downward trajectory of the series. Previous reviews of The Simpsons that I’ve seen on our site as well as others seem to come from Simpsons loyalists, who defend the series more now [...]
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