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 »
IS ANYBODY THERE?
IS ANYBODY THERE? is the poignant title of a bittersweet film about life, death, and magic. Its also one of Michael Caines best performances, and thats saying a great deal. Hes The Amazing Clarence, a retired magician whose life hasnt turned out to be quite as amazing as his van insistantly proclaims. They, his life… 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 »
THE BLIND SIDE
THE BLIND SIDE takes what in lesser hands would have been a prime example of the hopelessly hackneyed and saccharine sub-genre of holiday feel-good flick, sports division, and, instead, makes of this uplifting true story a refreshingly sober film that brings good and surprisingly wholesome good cheer. The true story is of how Michael Oher… Read More »
ME AND ORSON WELLES
Click here to listen to the interview with Richard Linklater and Christian McKay (18:18). At the center of ME AND ORSON WELLES is Christian McKay’s performance as Welles during his reign as the enfant terrible of New York in the late 1930s. He is not so much doing an impersonation of him as he is… Read More »
ME AND ORSON WELLES
Click here to listen to the interview with Richard Linklater and Christian McKay (18:18). At the center of ME AND ORSON WELLES is Christian McKay’s performance as Welles during his reign as the enfant terrible of New York in the late 1930s. He is not so much doing an impersonation of him as he is… Read More »
DEAR JOHN
DEAR JOHN continues the translation from page to screen of wholesome romances devised by genre juggernaut Nicholas Sparks. This one weaves 9/11 into a story about the distances between people and the difficulties in bridging them, whether those distances are spatial or emotional. Our lovely couple are Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) and John (Channing Tatum), two… Read More »
REMEMBER ME
REMEMBER ME is a turgid excuse for a perceptive character study/romance that pins its hopes on a twist that is not so much a jolt as an affront. Not to give anything away, at least not more than the film itself in its opening moments, but suffice to say that the main action takes place… Read More »
THE PERFECT GAME
Click here for the interview with Cheech Marin (12:55) When going for the heart, there is a tricky line for a film to walk between earnest sweetness and syrupy schmaltz. THE PERFECT GAME pulls off this balancing act with a combination of smart direction and even smarter casting. That’s no small achievement considering the story,… Read More »
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- …
- 50
- Next Page »