Biography
Noah’s Barks pages relating or belonging to biographical media.
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Thrilling Machine: A Brief History of George Gomez
Issue 52 of Old School Gamer Magazine allowed me the honor of interviewing industry legend George Gomez. (read more)
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Bronson
An entertaining but ultimately shallow waste of potential. Bronson hints at social commentary beyond the story of its character with its metanarrative’s stand-up sections that seem to be leading into discussions about goading the mentally ill into stardom and exploiting it, but instead the film drops this for nothing. This flavor of Bronson as a… (read more)
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Gimme Danger
A renowned director like Jim Jarmusch combined with one of the greatest bands in history makes Gimme Danger sound like a recipe for success. But The Stooges brought their A-game decades ago, and it’s left to Jarmusch to underperform. This doc is overly historical and literal, almost entirely Iggy Pop (James Osterberg) reciting dates and… (read more)
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Quiz Show
Tense and engaging in that typical way these “true story” cons tend to be, but I won’t act like I’m above that kind of entertainment. Especially when it’s backed up by the great performances of John Turturro and Ralph Fiennes. Robert Redford’s direction is very uninvolved, however, making Quiz Show more of a literal story… (read more)
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Bridge of Spies
The praise Bridge of Spies has been getting is inexplicable. It’s a Steven Spielberg movie with no powerful stills. It’s a Coen bros. script full of terribly misplaced awkward jokes in spite of the story’s drama and risk, and this awful humor makes it obvious every situation ends for the best or it’s in poor… (read more)
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Raging Bull
Martin Scorsese‘s sharp decision to film in black and white gives Raging Bull a special framework that elevates it beyond a simple biopic. Raging Bull is a third-person lens at an era gone past, and the juxtaposition of the beautifully soft theme music against Jake LoMotta’s (Robert De Niro) intensity aids the retrospective feel. Also… (read more)
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Serpico
Al Pacino is the Atlas of Serpico, his central performance is the strength of the entire movie, with other aspects being only a little more than serviceable. The real Serpico seems like a good guy, but the dedication to the presumed facts is likely what drags the entertainment value down. The narrative gets extremely formulaic… (read more)
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Amadeus
Amadeus has a pretty mediocre beginning filled with crude humor that borders on slapstick, and the film throughout has some ridiculous modern dialect despite otherwise being a period piece, but as the story escalates and becomes increasingly serious, the writing changes with it and the true power of Amadeus begins to rise. Fantastic, but could’ve… (read more)
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Spartacus
Spartacus gets both ends of the shaft from film nerds due to the fact it’s the least “Kubrickian” Stanley Kubrick movie, and most everyone else shrugs it off because it’s just not particularly great. Kubrick-like or not, Spartacus is still a pretty well done cheesy Hollywood melodrama adventure flick with some very entertaining action scenes,… (read more)
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Ed Wood
Frustrating in how almost perfect it is as a biopic about the infamous director’s life, the script of Ed Wood is overly hammy and comedic. This homage runs the risk of insincerity and losing the very real heart that the movie itself posits the man should be admired for. Still, fantastic casting and a chipper… (read more)