With the 2015 Oscar season and show mercifully behind us, now seems an appropriate time to consider the film Indignation, which had its premiere at Sundance in January and then screened in the loaded Panorama section of the Berlinale Film Festival in February. It says here that with the proper handling and a fair bit of luck, Indignation could be next year’s Brooklyn – a “small” film that goes big and ends up with a Best Picture nomination. Both films are set in the United States in the early 1950’s; both have roots in the greater New York City area. But whereas Brooklyn tells the tale of the wonderful things that happen when a young Irish immigrant woman arrives, Indignation is the tragic story of what occurs when an unprepared young Jewish man leaves. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Indignation Review
Posted: February 29, 2016 in 2016 Berlinale, Drama, ReviewsTags: James Schamus, Logan Lerman, Philip Roth, Sarah Gadon, Tracy Letts
War on Everyone Review
Posted: February 27, 2016 in 2016 Berlinale, Action, Comedy, ReviewsTags: Alexander Skarsgård, John Michael McDonagh, Michael Peña
Have you ever wondered if a mime would make a noise when run over by a police car? This and other too-often neglected questions of law enforcement are finally answered in John Michael McDonagh’s irreverent take on the buddy cop formula, War on Everyone.
Imagine a remake of Lethal Weapon in which the Mel Gibson character spoke and acted like Mel Gibson in the course of a DUI. Meanwhile, the Danny Glover guy profanely berates his children, enables his alcoholic partner, and argues with his wife over the source of existential philosophy quotes. War on Everyone is South Park meets Starsky & Hutch, a kick ass, crazy, would-be procedural that is not satisfied until it has found the scene that offends you. (more…)
Midnight Special Review
Posted: February 26, 2016 in 2016 Berlinale, Reviews, Science FictionTags: Adam Driver, E.T., Jeff Nichols, Joel Egerton, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Shepard
Midnight Special was one of the real treats of the recently concluded 67th Berlinale Film Festival. The first showing was the film’s world premiere, and the inclusion of a genre movie into the Competition section of the festival was a welcome change from the programming approach of recent years. The initial showing occurred in the coveted first Friday evening time spot and was prefaced by a red carpet march of key crew and cast members including director/screenwriter Jeff Nichols and actors Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, and Kirsten Dunst. The film unspooled, and the proverbial good time was had by all. (more…)
Hail, Caesar? Hail, No
Posted: February 7, 2016 in 2016 Berlinale, Comedy, ReviewsTags: Alden Ehrenreich, Channing Tatum, Coen Brothers, George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Veronica Osorio
The first scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the sequel to one of the greatest action movies ever filmed, is a musical number. There was no cinematic justification for Kate Capshaw leading a line of chorus girls in a Mandarin Chinese rendition of “Anything Goes” for three minutes while audiences asked “WTF?” before that was even a thing. No justification does not mean no explanation. It turns out that director Steven Spielberg always wanted to direct a musical. And, oh, yeah, he was married to Capshaw.
Now, imagine, not just one scene, but an entire film comprised of scenes from genres that the director always wanted to film. (more…)
Jane Got a Gun, But Not the Balls to Use It
Posted: January 30, 2016 in Drama, Reviews, WesternTags: Burden of Dreams, Ewan McGregor, Fitzcarraldo, I Spit on Your Grave, Natalie Portman, Rape and Revenge Flicks
If you’re going to make a revenge flick, don’t outsource the acts of vengeance. In particular, if you are scripting a rape-and-revenge movie, empower your heroine to do the heavy lifting and genital severing on her own. Maybe I Spit on Your Grave is not your cup of Earl Grey, but at least, that film had the courage of its convictions.
Jane Got a Gun, but she ain’t got the balls to use it for too much of this genre wannabe flop. (more…)
JLaw is the Coolest Kid in the Class
Posted: January 18, 2016 in ReviewsTags: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Joy, Serena, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Jennifer Lawrence is everywhere. It’s not just your imagination. Open any door at the cineplex, and you will see that beautifully sculpted face perfectly framed by those blonde, brunette, or ginger tresses over the statuesque figure poured into spandex, an untucked blouse and black pants, or blue body paint. She’s Joy Mangano. She’s Katniss Everdeen. She’s Mystique.
Turn on the television. She’s on the red carpet. She’s doing the buddy routine with Amy Schumer. She’s accepting another award. She’s acknowledging another nomination. She’s sassing a reporter. She’s charming an interviewer. She’s confessing to getting high before the Oscars to Andy Cohen. She’s giving false hope to Seth Meyers. She’s being funnier than Jimmy Fallon.
Jennifer Lawrence is 25 years old. She already has four Academy Award nominations and one win with the possibility of a Best Actress Oscar pending. And she has yet to find the role that showcases all of her talent. To date, we have probably seen less half of of the range in which she’s capable of playing at the highest level of the profession. (more…)
13 Hours Opts for Action Rather Than Agitprop
Posted: January 17, 2016 in Action, ReviewsTags: Benghazi, Chuck Hogan, Fort Apache, Hillary Clinton, John Krasinski, Libya, Michael Bay
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi does not hedge. The graphic at the beginning of the film does not read, “Based on A True Story” or “Inspired by Real Events.” Instead, audiences see a straightforward claim of absolute accuracy: “This is a True Story.” Given how politicized the terrible events of September 11-12, 2012 have become, viewers could reasonably expect that what follows this blanket statement would be a 144-minute screed against Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, especially in light of the rhetoric coming from the current presidential campaign.
Yet, that is not the case. 13 Hours is a film full of surprises, and nothing is more surprising than director Michael Bay and screenwriter Chuck Hogan’s decision to eschew agitprop and focus instead on making a good, old fashioned action flick. (more…)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Take Two
Posted: January 16, 2016 in Action, Fantasy, Reviews, Science FictionTags: Adam Driver, Captain Underpants, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, J.J. Abrams, John Boyega, Lawrence Kasdan, Max von Sydow, Supreme Leader Snoke
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a movie that demands a second viewing by most filmgoers – fanboys and casual observers alike. The reason for a repeat is rather simple. The heightened expectations surrounding the film’s release left most audiences in a state of diminished awareness, capable only of following the action from Point A to Point B and forming immediate visceral reactions: good, bad, loved it, hated it. Our eyes were wide and unblinking, but also unfocused on the less obvious and without the needed peripheral vision to incorporate all aspects of the production into our criticism. (more…)
Is Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant the Best Actor?
Posted: January 12, 2016 in Drama, Reviews, WesternTags: Academy Awards, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Golden Globes, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Punke, Tom Hardy
Is Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant the best actor?
It would seem, for the moment, that question has been answered by the Hollywood Foreign Press, which bestowed the Best Actor award (or more precisely, the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama award) to DiCaprio at the recent Golden Globes. The win was expected. Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Bryant Cranston (Trumbo) were seen in films seen by far too few. Will Smith’s turn in Concussion generated next to no buzz. That left Eddie Remayne in The Danish Girl, work that was too soon since his last win for The Theory of Everything and too far out of the mainstream for some.
So, if the matter is settled until the Oscar nominations are announced, let’s tinker with the initial query.
In The Revenant, is Leonardo DiCaprio the best actor?
Now that is a very different question. (more…)
Trumbo Review
Posted: October 23, 2015 in 2015 London Film Festival, Drama, ReviewsTags: Bryan Cranston, Dalton Trumbo, Edward G. Robinson, Hedda Hopper, Helen Mirren, Hollywood 10, Jay Roach, John McNamara, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Otto Preminger
Leave it to Hollywood to turn one of its darkest periods of cowardice into a self-aggrandizing cinematic triumph. Celebrating the life of Dalton Trumbo in a major movie from Tinseltown is irony itself; the question is whether the aftertaste is sweet or bitter? Coming off the keys of Trumbo’s typewriter, which he sat behind for hours at a time in his bathtub, beating out some of the most famous screenplays in history, the script of his own life would undoubtedly have been both sweet and sour, awash in fine wine, and surrounded by bilious clouds of cigarette smoke from his six-packs-a-day habit.
Trumbo gives us this Trumbo – a larger than life character in a story that is almost too good to be true. The short version is that Dalton Trumbo was a prolific and outstanding novelist and screenwriter, who, like many of his peers in the 1930’s and 1940’s, was also a member of the Communist Party of America. (more…)
Meet Mr. Karma 