6 results

page 1 of 1

Nick Schager

Nick Schager is a regular film contributor at Voice Media Group. VMG publications include Denver Westword, Miami New Times, Phoenix New Times, Dallas Observer, Houston Press and New Times Broward-Palm Beach.

Visit my author page »

The Welcome Return of Kurt Russell

Here are a few of our favorite Kurts.

By Nick Schager
Mar 13, 2014

A wise man -- or, more precisely, a wiseass trucker named Jack Burton -- once opined that "it’s all in the reflexes." Few actors have had better ones than Kurt Russell, who makes a welcome return to theaters this weekend in The Art of the Steal. Having been largely MIA...
Wrong Move, Remake: The Lasting Relevance of Paul Verhoeven's Original RoboCop

By Nick Schager
Feb 20, 2014

It doesn't feature iPhones, Twitter or an internet, and yet Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop remains perhaps the most prescient sci-fi effort of the past 30 years -- a work from 1987 whose continuing relevance is matched by the fact that no one would dare make it today. Or, at least, remake...
The Triumph of Frozen, the First Disney Princess Movie About Girls Rather Than for Them

The first Disney princess film to completely root itself in anything like the true feminine experience.

By Nick Schager
Feb 6, 2014

How retrograde are many of the core tenets of the Disney princess? Consider this: My daughter owns a book called Snow White’s Secret, in which Disney’s royal archetype reveals her devilish hidden life: When the Dwarfs are working at the mine, she sneaks into their cottage and joyfully cleans the...
Oscar Bites: Here's awards glory in a sensible serving size

By Nick Schager
Jan 30, 2014

Who says award-season winners have to be epic? If you're looking for an alternative to the lengthy features vying for recognition and box-office glory, ShortsHD and Magnolia Pictures have on offer the full slate of 2014 Oscar-nominated short films. Divided into three categories (documentary, animation, live action), each featuring five...
Those Naughty Victorians

By Nick Schager
Jan 16, 2014

A tale of love complicated — if not thwarted — by prior responsibilities, intractable barriers and the rigid high-society norms that frustrate its Victorian characters' attempts to live as they so desperately want, The Invisible Woman finds Ralph Fiennes proving as adept behind the camera as he is in front...
A Brilliant Past

By Nick Schager
Jan 16, 2014

Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi solidifies his status as one of cinema's finest living dramatists with The Past, a superb follow-up to 2011's Oscar-winning A Separation that again situates audiences amid interpersonal, familial and household crises. Working from a script that incisively plumbs a thicket of logistical and emotional complications, Farhadi's...