Much will and should be made one day about the metaphor of the individual plot points and of the metaphysics that lie at the heart of THE MISSING. The way it portrays the clash of cultures between the white settlers and the Native Americans whose lands were taken, corrupting the souls of those on both… Read More »
COFFEE AND CIGARETTES
Are you a bug, Bill Murray? It’s an odd question, but in the context of Jim Jarmusch’s brilliant consideration of human interaction, COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, there is both genius and poetry to it. This series of vignettes filmed in glossy, nostalgic black and white examines ten different conversations that on the surface have nothing in common… Read More »
THE AVIATOR
Crash and burn is a painfully apt metaphor for the life of Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) as told in Martin Scorseses THE AVIATOR. We even see two such events in the course of its almost three hours of running time. Unlike the tidier myth of Icarus, though, Hughes story is more than just genius meeting… Read More »
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
In THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU. Wes Anderson, of RUSHMORE and THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS fame, again works in a rarified atmosphere with his unique auteurs voice that will leave some viewers wondering what all the fuss is about and other flinging hosannas to heaven. He blithely flits from the sublime to the ridiculous and… Read More »
THE ELIZABETH — THE GOLDEN AGE
ELIZABETH, THE GOLDEN AGE is as ambitious and as opulent as its predecessor, ELIZABETH. Both starring Cate Blanchett in the title role, both directed with panache by Shekhar Kapur, the former was a triumph in depicting the private Elizabeth subsuming her personal desires in order to become a national icon. The latter is a muddle… Read More »
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL has been a long time in coming and, as it turns out, more than worth the wait. This return to the old-fashioned action/adventure/fantasy genre is more than an homage to those implausible but irresistible serials of yore, it’s more than a superb revisiting of the homage… Read More »