Posterized Propaganda September 2013: ‘Prisoners,’ ‘Rush,’ ‘Riddick’ & More

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably. Festival season is upon us, so forgive me if I’m more concerned with the films whose posters will be included in future posts than those releasing now. That’s not saying…

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REVIEW: Predators [2010]

“Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man” Sometimes you have to be dropped on an alien planet with a bunch of amoral killers to finally discover what it means to be human. The sentiment may be cheesy, but for some reason it works in the reboot/sequel hybrid Predators. I haven’t seen the first two installments, knowing only that Predator is supposedly a classic of the genre and Predator 2 good for a laugh at Danny Glover. After watching both Alien vs. Predator flicks, however, I wouldn’t say…

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REVIEW: Vacancy [2007]

“You can get another sparkler” Ah, a thriller that looks as though it could deliver on the promises of its genre. I mean, come on, we have Luke Wilson, a decent actor taking a dramatic turn, the fantastic Frank Whaley, one of the most underused character actors around, director Nimród Antal following up his critically acclaimed Kontroll, and the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale to light up the screen—I’ll admit, I would have seen Vacancy just based on her involvement alone. We have some real nice talent here and a premise, while…

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