Articles by John Semley

Whatever Works

Woody Allen

PUBLISHED Jun 25, 2009

So, Woody Allen has deputized Larry David has his latest on-screen stand-in. I can't imagine a more perfectly storm of grating neuroticism....

Reaper: Season Two

PUBLISHED Jun 16, 2009

Previously on Reaper: 21-year-old slacker Sam Oliver's (Bret Harrison) parents have taken it upon themselves to hock his soul to the devil...

The Taking of Pelham 123

Tony Scott

PUBLISHED Jun 11, 2009

Joseph Sargent's The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) is an understated, compelling piece of mid-'70s pulp cinema, and one hell of a good heist...

Empties (Vratné lahve)

Jan Sverák

PUBLISHED Jun 4, 2009

Empties serves as something of a spiritual successor to Jan Svěrák's 1996 Academy Award-winning Kolja. Here again, screenwriter...

Z-Rock: Season 1

PUBLISHED May 28, 2009

Trumped up in the promotional material as "a (kinda) true story," IFC original comedy series Z-Rock follows the formulaic exploits of Brook...

Kill Buljo

Tommy Wirkola

PUBLISHED May 22, 2009

There's a bit in Multiplicity where one of the Keaton clones says something to the effect of "when you make a copy of a copy, it doesn't tu...

Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy

PUBLISHED May 8, 2009

In assembling a trio of Trek films for this package, Paramount rather shrewdly ignored the franchise's momentously boring first feature, St...

Died Young, Stayed Pretty

Eileen Yaghoobian

PUBLISHED May 7, 2009

In her effort to gratuitously reaffirm the hazy political consequence of punk's DIY aesthetics, Eileen Yaghoobian moves beyond fashion and...