There's room for film noir that can inhabit real places and plausible people while still having all the necessary ingredients to make them as cool as the genre demands. With a deep homage to noir coupled with a big dose of 1970's-esque conspiracy thrillers, director Jenna Ricker, in her second feature film, presents "The American Side" starring her Greg Stuhr and a notable ensemble cast. Using upstate New York, Ricker has created a living and breathing seedy side out a wholesome American city and tourist destination. As a film, "The American Side" is satisfying and a constantly engaging throwback detective story that surpasses its glitzy and more expensive Hollywood peer "The Nice Guys."
Read MoreThe amount of love and appreciation you will garner for "Trainwreck" will entirely depend on your taste and tolerance level for its star, Amy Schumer. The groundbreaking comedienne wrote this screenplay as a fictionalized take on herself. If you love her brash comedy and clever subversive feminism, "Trainwreck" is a star-making arrival and a triumph as rare female-centered romantic comedy. If you're not into the crassness and randomness of her act, the film is going to feel like episodic fits and starts within a flawed romantic comedy that feels like pieces from different and better films.
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