One of my favorite lines in Lyne Hershman-Leeson’s TEKNOLUST concerns the side effects of knowledge. They’re dangerous because they’re unpredictable. Once you learn something, paradigms shift, assumptions evaporate, and you’re forced to look at the world in a whole new way and maybe even re-think your whole life. Scary stuff. The film ponders the nature… Read More »
CABIN FEVER
What we have in CABIN FEVER is the classic tale of city kids out in the deep dark woods with all the attendant mischief that that sort of thing engenders. The saving grace is that these kids are not outstandingly stupid, say, like the Blair Witch kids. You know, the ones that kept crossing and… Read More »
NEW SUIT
NEW SUIT is a knowing yet gentle parable about the evils of show biz. Specifically, the film biz as practiced in the mythical land of tinsel and hype. A place where there is so much style that no one there noticed that substance departed, tail between its legs, many, many moons ago. Which is why… Read More »
SO CLOSE (CHIK YEUNG TIN SAI)
SO CLOSE begins as an excellent example of what a martial arts action film should be. Its full of slick moves, quick cuts, and nasty surprises for hapless victims who smile smugly until the tables are irrevocably turned on them. As satisfying as all that is, writer Jeff Lau has added another dimension to director… Read More »
demonlover
The French have brought us many wonderful things: Voltaire, Manet, brioche. But it pays to remember that they as a people worship Jerry Lewis and Mickey Rourke. They also have no clue about producing even semi-decent rock music. I bring this up because I’ve just seen Olivier Assayas’ demonlover and the experience left me asking… Read More »
BUBBA HO-TEP
BUBBA HO-TEP is a surprisingly touching film considering the subject matter, viz. to wit, an aging Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) as a resident of a rundown East Texas nursing home battling an ancient Egyptian mummy given to wearing cowboy boots. That he is aided in this battle by a fellow resident who claims to be… Read More »
MOSTLY MARTHA
As Martha, the heroine-chef of the German film, MOSTLY MARTHA, explains it, she’s not obsessive. She’s precise. Being the chef at a trendy restaurant in Hamburg requires split-second timing and an attention to detail that to the untrained eye might seem obsessive, but isn’t. At least according to Martha. Of course, she’s explaining this to her therapist, the… Read More »
RETURNER
Perhaps there is a cultural divide that prevents those of us not steeped in all things Japanese from seeing that RETURNER, which did boffo business in Japan, is actually a fine piece of filmmaking. Perhaps there are subtle nuances that we cannot appreciate despite our best efforts at trying to find them. And perhaps Madonna really can… Read More »
PREY FOR ROCK AND ROLL
PREY FOR ROCK AND ROLL is a high-octane ride through the world of rock and roll as it is actually lived by most of its practitioners. No private jets, no limos, no personal manager smoothing out the rough edges of reality, in fact, not enough to cover the rent. Such is the life of Jacki… Read More »
STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES
I suppose that it is theoretically possible for the latest installment of the STAR WARS saga, ATTACK OF THE CLONES, to have been worse than THE PHANTOM MENACE, but fortunately, we are spared the spectacle of what that might have been like. CLONES is certainly no masterpiece, but it is head, shoulders, and light saber better… Read More »
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