Up In The Air Reviewed at The Cinematheque

It's almost audacious in its very ordinariness, yet it is beloved by many, both middle management types and the critical elite.  It has won and/or been nominated for many an award lo these past two months and is now up for Best Picture, Actor, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actress (twice) at the Academy Awards.  It stars the ever-charming George Clooney and is directed by the ever-mediocre Jason Reitman.  One of these things does not cancel out the other and therein lies the problem with Up in the Air.  Well, that and about a baker's dozen worth of other things. 

Read my review of Up in the Air at The Cinematheque.

Two New Reviews (Me and Orson Welles AND Youth in Revolt) Reviewed at The Vigilant Monkey

I have two new reviews over at the esoteric webzine The Vigilant Monkey.

The first one is Me and Orson Welles and it is the latest film in the uneven, but mostly well accomplished oeuvre of Richard Linklater.  It is definitely Linklater-lite, but it is on the higher rung of such distinction.  It is surely nowhere near the auteuristic heights of Dazed & Confused and Before Sunset, yet it is also equally as far from the lowlights of his inexplicably well-received School of RockBad News Bears remake.  The thing that does make the film work (other than Linklater's usual command of deceptively fluid camerawork) is the performance of Christian McKay as the titular ultimate auteur.  A spot-on portrayal of Welles - so much so that one forgets that they are not actually watching Orson Welles himself.  Otherwise the film really goes nowhere, which is very un-linklater-like.  and the rather superfluous

Read my review of Me and Orson Welles at The Vigilant Monkey. 

The other film is the Godardian (yea, believe it or not) Youth in Revolt from The Good Girl director Miguel Arteta.  The film, a loose (very loose) rendition of JLG's Breathless (or A bout de souffle if you rather) for the teenage set, never lives up to its high potential or even higher aspirations.  Star Michael Cera, despite playing the exact same role as he does in every other movie he has ever made, does have his moments (and requisite quippish asides) and these moments are what keeps the otherwise haphazard and rather rushed film from falling too much apart. 

Read my review of Youth in Revolt at The Vigilant Monkey.

A Single Man Reviewed at The Cinematheque

One expects a certain sense of style when a fashion designer turns filmmaker but one doesn't expect much depth beyond surface beauty.  What one gets with Tom Ford's A Single Man is the unexpected.  A sumptuous film to behold AND a deeply touching (semi) modern day romantic tragedy.  Not much more to say that I haven't already said in my review - which by the way, can be seen and read just on the other end of the link below. 

Read my review of A Single Man at The Cinematheque.

Avatar Reviewed at The Cinematheque

I think I actually hate the idea of what Avatar represents more than the actual movie itself.  A colorful melange of acid-trippy environmentalism and anti-imperialism wrapped inside a gorgeous make-believe world that is unfortunately encumbered with one of the most stereotypical of screenplays (Cameron's weak spot indeed) in many a year.  The movie itself ends up being nothing more than mere middle-of-the-road multi-plex fodder full of pretty computer-created 3D pictures.  The idea that it will change cinema - which it very well may - is what pisses this critic off.  This change in the weather as it were, may be a change in the complete wrong direction.  Taking the art out of cinema (and yes, much of it is already, and always has been, artless) Cameron's apparent paradigm shift could be what Susan Sontag warned us of years ago - the death of cinema.  Okay, I am probably being over-dramatic, but I've been accused of that before.  Whatever the case may be, Avatar is, at best, an okay picture - at best.  Why all the hullabaloo, I don't know - but then the masses always need something to hang their hopes on. 

Read my review of Avatar at The Cinematheque.

The Road Reviewed at The Cinematheque

As I attest to in my review, though John Hillcoat is a more than capable director and his psycho-western The Proposition was a more than bravura take on the long dead genre, Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize winning novel of desolation and sacrifice would have come closer to the source material (and McCarthy's Faulkneresque prose poetry) if someone like Bela Tarr or, in crossing over, the late great austere master Andrei Tarkovsky were at the helm.  The film is visually magnificent and Viggo Mortensen's central performance is awe-inspiring as they say, and Hillcoat does a marvelous job in adaptation (leaving out very little when all is said and done) but there is just a feel that should be there that is just not.  But then, I am splitting hairs, for my criticism, though seemingly major, is probably a lesser concern than it should be.  One cannot really ask what a film would be like under the auspices of another director.   Well one can, but one probably shouldn't.  Imagine what the film would have been like with Antonioni at the helm.  There I go again.  I'll try to stop.  Anyway, that being as it may, here is my review of The Road. 

Read my review of The Road at The Cinematheque.

Nine Reviewed at The Cinematheque

The idea of a musical version of Fellini's 8 1/2 is a unique and rather interesting idea, and under the right auspices (and right director) it could have been a unique and rather interesting movie.  Unfortunately for us (and everyone involved in the making of the film) that director is not Rob Marshall.  He already demolished Bob Fosse's Chicago back in 2002 (and won the Academy Award for his services!!? Beating out both The Pianist and Gangs of New York btw!!?) and now he does grand ruin to Fellini's memory as well.  Luckily (to some degree) the cast - including Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren - almost makes up for Marshall's complete lack of filmmaking ability.  Has the guy ever even seen a movie other than his own!?  Anyway, you take the good, you take the bad, and there you have...well, the film is merely middle-of-the-road and that is all there is to that. I guess, though it could have and should have been much better, it could have been much much worse too. 

Read my review of Nine at The Cinematheque.

The Best of 2009

Here are my long-delayed choices for the best films of 2009.

1. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)  
2. Antichrist (Lars von Trier)
3. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
4. Public Enemies (Michael Mann)
5. Red Cliff (John Woo)
6. Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola) 
7. Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar)
8. Drag Me to Hell (Sam Raimi)
9. Gomorrah (Matteo Garrone)
10. Star Trek (J.J. Abrams)

It Might Get Loud Reviewed at The Cinematheque

Since I never got around to reviewing the film when it first came out (even though it played at the cinema I happen to run) I am finally taking the time now, as it is released on DVD, to review It Might Get Loud.  Not much more to say other than go over to MovieZeal and read the review. 

Read my review of It Might Get Loud at MovieZeal.

The Great Procrastinator Catches Up: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Brothers & 2012 Reviewed at The Cinematheque

Well, it's 2010 and this procrastinating old fool has yet to review many of the movies he saw over the last few months of 2009.  That procrastinating old fool is here today to remedy at least some of that.  With that said, I give you three reviews of films that should have been written and posted more than a while ago.   I will list them (for no other reason than because I want to) in preferential order, from best to worst.

First up is Wes Anderson's inevitable foray into animation, with the stop-motion screwball comedy Fantastic Mr. Fox (my review can be read here).  Charming, but in the Wes Anderson definition of charm, Fantastic Mr. Fox is the more popular but less demanding of the two talking fox movies that came out in 2009.  But chaos still reigns in Anderson's movie.  It's just a somewhat more light-hearted kind of chaos.  But hey, any movie with Bill Murray as a badger is just alright with me.

Second is the Jim Sheridan helmed remake of the Danish film Brothers (my review can be read here).  It is a rather mediocre remake, as many a Hollywood retread of European fare tends to be, but occasionally the haphazard performances break through the surface to keep the film from faltering too far down the rabbit hole.  Not exactly a rave review, but I suppose it could have been worse.

The third film of this triple play catch-up game is Roland Emmerich's disaster du jour 2012 (my review can be read here).  Based on the idea that the world will end on 12/21/12 (thanks to those pesky Mayans and their unfinished calendar) this CGI-addled John Cusack adventure movie could have been a lot worse than it was.  Another rave, eh?  Emmerich has done giddy popcorn fun before with his favourite genre, but here his well seems to be beginning to run a bit on the dry side. 

I'll be back soon with some more catch-up of 2009, with reviews of Where the Wild Things Are, La Belle Personne, Bad Lieutenant, Lake Tahoe, The Silence of Lorna, Coco Before Chanel, Amelia, Invictus, Amreeka, Disgrace, The Messenger and Avatar.

Sherlock Holmes Reviewed at The Vigilant Monkey

I went into this movie with absolutely no intentions of liking it.  Expecting to hate it actually.  I do like Robert Downey Jr. and I did enjoy Iron Man (he is playing essentially the same character here!? - just sans the armour overalls) but to think I could sit there for more than two hours and enjoy a Guy "Snatch" Ritchie movie???  A Guy "Lock, Stock & Two Freakin' Smoking Barrels" Ritchie movie?????  A Guy "RocknRolla" Ritchie movie??????  A Guy "Swept Away" Ritchie movie???????  Just ain't happenin' brothah.

But guess what?  I sat there for more than two hours and enjoyed a Guy Ritchie movie.  A Guy "Sherlock Holmes" Ritchie movie!!!!!  True, the arbitrary auteur's annoying filmmaking style is still quite intact but with the help of Tony Stark gone back in time...er, I mean with the help of Robert Downey Jr. (and Jude Law), Ritchie's movie works - for the most part.  It still had the most mundane of villians and relied too heavily on CGI, but hey, just the fact that I sat there for more than two hours and enjoyed a Guy Ritchie movie should be enough of a victory.  Anyway, my review is over at The Vigilant Monkey (one of my three regular haunts outside of my own site). 

Read my review of Sherlock Holmes at The Vigilant Monkey.

Julie & Julia (finally!) Reviewed at MovieZeal

I usually don't do DVD reviews (at least not since I had my own DVD column at a local alt monthly called Central Voice from 2004-2005, before having a falling out of sorts over the hack job edit they did on my Brokeback Mountain piece) but since I never bothered to review the movie when it originally came out (oh that darned procrastination) here I am writing a review of Julie & Julia on the release of the movie on DVD.  It is my eighth review written specifically for Luke Harrington's wonderful review site, MovieZeal.  

Read my review of Julie & Julia at MovieZeal.

An Education Reviewed at MovieZeal

I first saw Lone Scherfig's An Education in NYC about a month or so ago.  Now, finally, it has made its way to Midtown Cinema here in Harrisburg.  I suppose that means it is about time for a published review - so here it is.  It is incidentally, my seventh review written for MovieZeal.  As far as the movie itself goes, it is a serious mood piece.  Well, a comic-serious mood piece, but whatever.  Scherfig has created something that is a stunning period-pitch set piece.  Designed with a unique flare that makes it seem both more real (an honest portrayal of late fifties/early sixties London) and more cinematic (it is a dreamlike fantasy world) than most movies of its ilk.  Granted, the film is let down a bit by Nick Hornby's loquacious yet cliche'd screenplay, but pulled up again by the central performance of Carey Mulligan as Jenny.  It's a role that could win this twenty-four year old newcomer an Academy Award for Best Actress.  But enough of that.  Read my review if you want any more.

Read my review of An Education at MovieZeal.

Everybody's Fine Reviewed at The Vigilant Monkey

When was the last time you can remember seeing a new Robert De Niro movie that didn't make you cringe with a sort of fallen idol disappointment?  Been awhile, huh?  Other than his somewhat small role in The Good Shepherd a few years back, you pretty much have to go back more than a decade to his Jackie Brown, Wag the Dog, Heat & Cop Land days.  And don't even think of getting another Travis Bickle or Rupert Pupkin outta the man from Tribeca.  Sad really.  Very sad.  De Niro still seems to be the man he always has been, and his cinephilia is more than evident with his annual film festival, but his roles are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking some more.  Perhaps, to quote Norma Desmond, it's the pictures that got small.  Whatever it is, De Niro is at it again with the extremely mediocre Everybody's Fine.  My review can be read over at The Vigilant Monkey if you really care.  I've got to be honest and say I didn't really care while I was writing it.  The film wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but it also wasn't so bad as to incite wrath and ire.  But I suppose it must be done.  So here it is.  I heard one person, upon leaving the theater, say they now had to go home and get the bad taste out of his mouth by watching Taxi Driver.  Go ahead and read the review, but instead of seeing the film, go home and watch Taxi Driver instead.  To cleanse your own palette, instead of posting a shot from the questionable movie in question, I give you the poster from the original Italian version.  I haven't seen that film, but it must be better, right? 

Read my review of Everybody's Fine at The Vigilant Monkey.

The Sun Reviewed at Gone Cinema Poaching

I first saw Sokurov's melancholy biopic on Hirohito waaaaay back at the 2005 New York Film Festival.  Good thing too, as it would not be until just this past week that the film would see an American release.  Since making The Sun, the Russian auteur has made and released Alexandria.  It debuted in the US in 2008 - less than a year after making its international debut.  All the while The Sun sat upon the shelf - at least as far as the US market went.  It has seen a run in theaters in Greece, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Brazil.  But never here in the good ole USofA.  That is until now.  November 18, 2009 to be exact.  Opening at Film Forum in NYC, The Sun is finally among us.  My review of said film can be read over at Gone Cinema Poaching.  It is my third review for Chazz Lyons wonderful website.  I will soon be contributing to GCP's Best of the Decade project - so keep an eye out for that as well. 

Read my review of The Sun at Gone Cinema Poaching.

Pirate Radio Reviewed at The Cinematheque

It was called The Boat That Rocked when it first opened in the UK.  Now its name has been changed (I personally liked the UK title much better) and nearly twenty minutes have been excised from the running time (mostly the parts that fleshed out characters and gave a certain amount of depth to the rather light-hearted story).  Welcome to America Pirate Radio.  Still though, truncated or not (I certainly prefer the UK version, now out on DVD across the pond) the film still manages to elicit a boatload of fun.  And yes, that very bad pun is used by one character in the movie.  And what a killer diller soundtrack.  Rock & Roll people, Rock & Roll indeed.

Read my review of Pirate Radio at The Cinematheque.

35 Shots of Rum Reviewed at Gone Cinema Poaching

My second review written specifically for the website Gone Cinema Poaching is for the film 35 Shots of Rum, directed by French provocatress Claire Denis.  I caught the film at Film Forum waaaay back in late September (a side trip from the NYFF screenings) and am only now writing the review.  Rather late, but hey, here it is now so get over it.  Anyway, as I said, this is my second review for GCP and there will be more to come.  I am excited to have another outlet to write for - new readers and all that jazz.  I will be doing a review for the most recent Aleksandr Sokurov movie to be released stateside, The Sun.  Talk about me being late with reviews, the Sokurov film debuted at the NYFF waaaaaaaay back in 2005 and is just now being released in the US.  The Russian has made several films since The Sun, including 2007's Alexandria which opened in the US nearly two years prior to this film.  So never call me late again dammit.  After The Sun (prob. posting on GCP sometime this week-end or early next week) I will be writing a piece on Almadovar's latest, Broken Embraces and (hopefully) Richard Linklater's new film, Me and Orson Welles (if anyone could get me a screener that would be fantastically appreciated).  I am also going to be taking part in GCP's Best of the Decade Project, counting down til the new year.  I will be doing pieces on Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and Robert Altman's The Company as well as possibly a piece on Brian De Palma and his four films from the past decade.  So with all that said (and I suppose I did ramble a bit) I am going to go now and get to work on much of what I just rambled on about.   

Read my Review of 35 Shots of Rum at Gone Cinema Poaching.

A Serious Man Reviewed at The Cinematheque

After building the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man (in my capacity as manager and projectionist of our local arthouse Midtown Cinema) I sat down and watched the brothers' fourteenth film all by my lonesome.  At first glance I wasn't sure what to make of this strangely curious little film.  Yes, the Coens' are usually purveyors of strangely curious little films, but this one was strangely curious in a completely different way.  Don't ask how, just go with me here.  Anyway, after contemplating it for a while, by the time I went to bed that night (about 2 hours after finishing the film) I was won over by this strangely curious little film.  Perhaps not their best (Fargo and No Country For Old Men hold those spots) but pretty darn close.  In that Coenesque second tier realm of Miller's Crossing, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple, Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski.  A strangely curious little film indeed.

Read my review of A Serious Man at The Cinematheque.

The Maid Reviewed at MovieZeal

I got to see a screening of The Maid by sheer happenstance.  I was attending the NYFF when I was told of a screening of Police, Adjective over at Magno (just near Times Square) and once I watched the latest in the so-called Romanian Ne Wave (or Black Wave if you will) I was about to leave for The Village and a showing of 35 Shots of Rum (being reviewed by your humble narrator very soon over at Gone Cinema Poaching - but more on that later) when I decided to see what else was screening that night at Magno.  Lo and behold it was the Chilean black comedy The Maid.  I didn't really have super high hopes for the film (though I didn't expect disaster either) but I stayed anyway and was quite happy I did.  A charming little film, but charming in the most peculiar way - sort of the same way Chas. Adams' or Edward Gorey's old comics were.  I've reviewed the film for MovieZeal (my sixth piece for that outlet) so go there and read it (if you care enough to do the heavy work of clicking the link below).

Read my review of The Maid at MovieZeal.

Paris Reviewed at Gone Cinema Poaching

I can now add yet another outlet to my ever-growing publishing empire.  Myahahahhahahahha (maniacal evil laugh!).  Seriously though, I am now a regular writer for the wonderful cinema blog, run by Chazz Lyons, Gone Cinema Poaching,   I will be doing regular weekly reviews as well as occasional editorial pieces and will chime in at other times as well (including a best-of-the-decade project going on over there throughout the rest of the year).

My first review is for the Cedric Klapisch film, Paris.  The film has gotten some ill will - some calling it sappy and trite - and some of this criticism is warranted - the film is more a work of love and adoration than of cinematic bravura (though there is some visually stunning set pieces and I don't mean just Juliette Binoche and Melanie Laurent) - but overall I believe the film is the strongest work the director has yet done.  A playful, loving film which weaves and intersects the way an Altman film does and it momentarily stimulates before moving on to its next subject and next subplot and subtext.  Quite exhilarating actually - even if it is a bit sappy and/or maudlin at times. 

Read my review of Paris at Gone Cinema Poaching.

Antichrist Reviewed at The Cinematheque

When I first saw Antichrist (a Lars von Trier film!!) at this year's NYFF, the press screening was punctuated with a plethora of hisses and guffaws.  Why do people hate this movie so?   Beats me.  Sure it's pretentious and condescending and pretty fucking arrogant, but c'mon guys, it is Lars von Trier afterall - what the Hell did you expect!?  Anyway, I think the film is brilliant, not in spite of its pretentiousness and/or arrogance, but because of it.  Bravo you mad mocking maestro you.

Read my review of Antichrist at the Cinematheque.