The Cornetto Trilogy comes to a superb conclusion with THE WORLDS END. Director Edgar Wright again teams with the regular cast of co-writer Simon Pegg as the anti-hero, and Nick Frost as the humorless corporate lawyer, along with newcomers Eddie Marsan as the grinning bunny rabbit of a car salesman, Paddy Considine as the enterperneur… Read More »
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
Click here for an interview with Chiwetel Ejiofor about KINKY BOOTS.(9:49).Stephen Frears’ work always has an element of savagery to it. No matter what the milieu, there is always the overwhelming sense of acute danger and violence permeating even the quietest of moments, making those moments not so much islands of peace as a jittery… Read More »
LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING
Before we get to the business of reviewing LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, let’s take a moment to marvel at the fact that Peter Jackson persuaded a studio, New Line, to give him not only the money, but also the free hand to bring this trilogy to the screen while remaining… Read More »
EDGE OF THE WORLD. THE
In the late 20s or early 30s, a story about the exodus of Scottish island folk from their home captured the imagination of Michael Powell, the British director of such classics as BLACK NARCISSUS and THE RED SHOES. The result was 1938s THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, long difficult to find and recently released by… Read More »
SHAUN OF THE DEAD DVD
Click here for the interview with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.There were three press screenings of SHAUN OF THE DEAD prior to its release here in San Francisco. The first one I had to be talked into. After all, the premise, a romantic comedy about zombies made by people I?d never heard of, didn?t sound… Read More »
DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE
The subject matter of this intimate documentary belies its breezy title, a title imposed, of course, by the commissioning editors with an eye towards its marketing potential. Made by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, it shows the casual brutality inflicted upon women in a country that views independent females with suspicion and, perhaps, even fear. Mir… Read More »
MATCH POINT
Chris (Johnathan Rhys-Meyers), the focus of Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT is an existential man in the proper Sartrian mold making his way in a world, he will learn, that is ruled by the short of absurdist chaos favored by Jean-Paul’s arch-rival, Camus. So much for free will, bad faith, and making one’s own luck. Forget… Read More »
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
The difference in outlooks between Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) and his late wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz), can be summed up in a conversation they have while driving on the squalid streets of Kenya’s capital where Justin, a British diplomat, is stationed. Tessa wants him to stop and give a lift back to her village to… Read More »
THE CONSTANT GARDENER — DVD
THE CONSTANT GARDENER is a thriller with a conscience and a romantic streak, both equally memorable. The DVD of it is memorable for what it doesn’t have: a commentary track. One could speculate endlessly about why that is, or one can move on to the bonus features that are available, including the usual deleted and… Read More »
THE LIBERTINE
Johnny Depp, an actor who not only takes chances, but seeks them out with a ferocity to match the considerable talent at his disposal, is not, alas, enough to save THE LIBERTINE. Adapted from the play of the same name by its author, Stephen Jeffreys, this intimate look at John Wilmot, the second Earl of… Read More »