The successful con is the one where everyone gets what they want. Its a statement that is profound in its simplicity. The same is true of THE BROTHERS BLOOM, where the premise is postulated and then proven with a deceptively simple plot that hides in plain sight. The brothers in question are Stephen (Mark Ruffalo)… Read More »
THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELD
The thing to remember while watching THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS is that this is a parable. Its relationship to the real world is symbolic, hence a male escort service named after the classical Greek take on the afterlife, and a writer who thinks that there is a place for his literate prose in a… Read More »
MONSTERS VS ALIENS
Its hard to love a cockroach. Yet, as demonstrated by WALL-E, in the hands of the gifted storytellers and animators, its not an insurmountable hurdle. With the fine folks who created MONSTERS VS ALIENS, the unlovable insect has once again been redeemed. Unlike WALL-E, a different sort of film altogether that gave us something that… Read More »
TERMINATOR SALVATION
For all the explosions, gunfire, firestorms, and manly gnashing of teeth, TERMINTATOR SALVATION has an overriding weariness to it. The franchise, while robust box-office wise, has essentially been telling the same story now for a quarter of a century. A tale of time-travel, murderous cyborgs, and a father born decades after his son’s conception is… Read More »
UGLY TRUTH, THE
The wonderful thing about Gerard Butler is that his puckish animal magnetism can almost carry a clunker like THE UGLY TRUTH. A putative romantic comedy about the fundamental differences between men and women, it reduces both genders to emotional cripples while failing to find any humor in the situation. Katherine Heigl, an engaging enough actress,… Read More »
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY is a smartly crafted, expertly acted, exquisitely directed exercise in smoke, mirrors, and greed. Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, whose MICHAEL CLAYTON was a tale of corporate expediency and redemption, his new film returns to the world of corporate skullduggery with the same sharp character studies, the same resignation about people sinking to… Read More »
UP IN THE AIR
Click here to listen to the interview with director Jason Reitman (16:55)In UP IN THE AIR, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) has it all figured out. A business traveler with only 42 days at what he euphemistically calls home in Omaha, his is an uncomplicated life without the messiness that genuine human interaction entails. He glides… Read More »
UP IN THE AIR
Click here to listen to the interview with director Jason Reitman (16:55)In UP IN THE AIR, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) has it all figured out. A business traveler with only 42 days at what he euphemistically calls home in Omaha, his is an uncomplicated life without the messiness that genuine human interaction entails. He glides… Read More »
SINGLE MAN, A
Colin Firth delivers a towering performance in Tom Ford’s adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s A SINGLE MAN. The novel’s interior monologue has been externalized as an haute-couture fashion shoot, familiar territory for the fashion designer turned filmmaker. Instead of a cheap gimmick or a cheesy idiom, though, it’s the perfect subjective palette on which to play… Read More »
THE HURT LOCKER
Among the many arresting images in THE HURT LOCKER, the one that may be the best at putting the audience in the position of the American army bomb squad fighting a futile war in Iraq, is also one of the most quiet. Its during what started out as a routine mission to gather up bomb-making… Read More »
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