There is in every frame of NIGHT CATCHES US the vivid, demanding presence of the past that is more than just being set in the Philadelphia of 1976. Writer/director Tanya Hamilton uses close-ups of her stellar cast as they pause in conversation with one another and, as they gaze at one another, or into an… Read More »
ARBITRAGE
Nicholas Jareckis ARBITRAGE brings up an age-old question. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Only in this case, the world gained is not just a showcase home, a formidable company, and an enviable family life, its also an intangible thing made of high-finance maneuvers with no… Read More »
ADAPTATION
ADAPTATION is the story of one man’s epic quest to adapt the unadaptable. In this case, turning THE ORCHID THIEF by Susan Orlean, into a feature film. The problem is that the non-fiction book is a rambling account of a rogue orchid hunter with the history of orchid mania and a glimpse of contemporary Seminole… Read More »
A MOST WANTED MAN
A MOST WANTED MAN evokes the best of the Cold War thrillers of the 1960s. Hardly a surprise, considering its based on a novel by the master of that genre, John le Carre. Directed with that genres same sense of understated, but lethal, suspense borne of uncertainty by Anton Corbijn it updates the action from… Read More »
MAX
As an exercise in ethics, people have been known to ponder the morality of going back in time to kill Hitler before he rose to power and committed any crimes against humanity. Some though, to adhere to the polar opposite sort of principles that Hitler espoused, thought a much more effective way to stop him… Read More »
ROCK STAR
Mark Wahlberg looks yummy in tight leather pants and thats a good thing because theres not much else to recommend his latest flick, ROCK STAR. Its the standard tale of the dangers of getting what you wish for, of the hollowness of a life of too much sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Fortunately, he… Read More »
GOOD THIEF, THE
THE GOOD THIEF is a cheeky little film that uses the excuse of a complicated caper to do a character study. Writer/director Neil Jordan, who adapted this from the 1955 French classic, BOB LE FLANEUR, uses smoke, mirrors, and a sleight of hand to keep things interesting, a magic that is certainly more adept than… Read More »
LEVITY
Ed Solomon wrote the scripts for MEN IN BLACK and BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE. He’s not the guy from whom you’d expect a serious, thoughtful, even intriguing script that wrestles with the theological and philosophical questions of redemption. And yet, with LEVITY, his directorial debut, that’s just what he’s done. The protagonist is Manual, with… Read More »
CONDFIDENCE
Like many great noirs, CONFIDENCE is told in flashback, narrated, as is also a convention of the genre, by a corpse. How he came to be lying in a gutter with several slugs in him makes for an intricately plotted little tale of crosses, double-crosses, and cons that you wont see coming. As you watching… Read More »
HAPPY ACCIDENTS
There comes a time in any romantic relationship when the couple in question drops the carefully cultivated dating personas. You know, when the pleasant, smiling, eternally non-plussed character designed to impress the other party gives way to the real person underneath. Sometimes this reveals delightful quirks that only serve to endear the one to the… Read More »