Stavesacre — Collective

8/10 My first year of college, I commuted. It was only a half-hour drive, out of the country and over the bridge to the big city, 25 minutes if I sped and traffic was light. However, as freshman year drew to a close, I decided I should spend sophomore year as a quasi-adult, in a

Stavesacre — Speakeasy

10/10 At the turn-of-the-century, geriatric rock mags like Rolling Stone were looking for rock music’s “new savior.” “Can anyone save rock-and-roll?” they intoned again and again. “Will Creed save rock-and-roll?” “Will The Strokes save rock-and-roll?” Those are real questions they asked! Being geriatric and uncool and all, those publications failed to notice that there were

Pain and Glory (Film Review)

2019 El DeseoWritten and Directed by: Pedro AlmodóvarStarring: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Julieta Serrano, and Penélope CruzMPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 113 MinutesThe Nicsperiment Score: 8/10 Celebrated director, Salvador Mallo, hasn’t made a film in years. Buried under an immense weight of physical pain, illness, depression, and the heartache of a

Parasite (Film Review)

2019 CJ Entertainment/Neon Directed by: Bong Joon-ho; Written by: Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, and Park So-dam MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 132 Minutes The Nicsperiment Score: 9/10 The Kim family live in what is essentially a hole in the ground, at the end of a

1.5X Speed!

When I listen to an audiobook or a podcast…well, I have a confession to make: My attention span for listening to someone speak has never been too great. My entire life, I’ve always murdered standardized tests in cold blood. I acheived the highest ACT score in my class, but thankfully, the ACT doesn’t have a

FIlmshake’s First Episode as a 90’s Movie Podcast: Point Break!

Jordan Courtney and I started Filmshake as a malleable podcast, where we’d do short series on diverse sets of films. However, something happened as we recorded this episode for Point Break, and you can hear it in the joy that slowly envelops our voices over the course of this episode–we now want Filmshake to live

Point Break (1991 Version Film Review)

1991 20th Century Fox/Largo EntertainmentDirected by: Kathryn Bigelow; Written by: W Peter IlliffStarring: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, and Lori PettyMPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 122 MinutesThe Nicsperiment Score: 8/10 Stop me if you’ve heard this setup before:Guy is starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Guy takes his team all the way to the

Troll 2 (Film Review)

1990 FilmirageWritten and Directed by: Claudio FragassoStarring: Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey, Connie McFarland, Deborah Reed, Jason Wright, Darren Ewing, and Jason SteadmanMPAA Rating: NR; Running Time: 94 MinutesThe Nicsperiment Score: 2/10There’s crap, and then there’s crap. Troll 2 is crap.This is the kind of movie you watch on a dare or because you’ve

Secret of Mana Review Almost Kills the Nicsperiment

Back in mid-July, the Weather Channel predicted that the entire state of Louisiana would sink into the Gulf of Mexico, under the great and immeasurable weight of The All Supreme and Terrible Hurricane Barry. Thankfully, that did not happen, though I did let the Weather Channel write the title for this post.In fact, we barely

The Lighthouse (Film Review)

2019 A24Directed by: Robert Eggers; Written by: Robert and Max EggersStarring: Willem Dafoe and Robert PattinsonMPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 100 MinutesThe Nicsperiment Score: 8/10 I’ll never forget watching the Ren and Stimpy episode “Space Madness” with my old man. As the titular characters face the prospect of years upon years with nothing but the