Archive for the ‘Cinema/Cinema Feature’ Category
January 28th, 2010
|
Author: ‘Crazy Heart’ has a stock story, but the music and the performances will stick with you
by James DiGiovanna
It’s a good idea to go into life’s ventures with low expectations. For example, being a teenager is nowhere near as appealing as vampire fiction would have you believe, and if you think otherwise, you’ll be disappointed when you reach 17 without ever getting a glimpse of immortal crotch. That said, I somehow went into Crazy Heart thinking it would be great. As a result, my short review would now be “not great.” But I went with a friend, filmmaker…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
Posted in 
Tags: 
‘The Road’ can’t overcome its source material’s lack of a plot
by James DiGiovanna
I could sum up my reaction to John Hillcoat’s adaptation of The Road with the word “unimpressed,” but that’s a little harsh; there are some truly inventive and spectacular visual effects. So I guess “unimpressed except by the visual effects” would be the kinder review. Not that it’s a terrible movie. Hillcoat had the problem of adapting Cormac McCarthy’s compelling but probably unfilmable book. The Road is a plotless, episodic story about a father (Viggo Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee)…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
Downey and Law are so great that you’ll gladly overlook the shortcomings of ‘Sherlock Holmes’
by Bob Grimm
Robert Downey Jr. dives into yet another iconic role as the title character in Sherlock Holmes, director Guy Ritchie’s inventive, sometimes exhilarating take on the classic sleuth. While the famous detective still puffs on his pipe, he’s now a badass street fighter with major self-esteem issues and a dark sense of humor. He’s also a really lousy roommate. Joining Downey Jr. as Watson—in what turns out to be his best role in quite a while—is former megastar-on-the-rise Jude Law. The…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
George Clooney helps make ‘Up in the Air’ entertaining, though the film feels unoriginal
by James DiGiovanna
If you go see Up in the Air, do not sit through the final credits. There’s an incredibly catchy but annoying song that starts playing sometime after the gaffer is listed, and as I write this review, I still can’t stop humming it in my head. There are other annoyances in this film, but the final song is the only one that will stick with you like blood on your Bruno Maglis. George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a motivational…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
Zac Efron proves he can act, but Christian McKay steals the show in ‘Me and Orson Welles’
by Bob Grimm
The infamous 1937 Mercury Theatre staging of Julius Caesar is given a magnificent treatment in director Richard Linklater’s Me and Orson Welles. Linklater approaches the story of one of theater history’s greatest happenings with a surprisingly intimate eye and a true sense of authenticity. This was Orson Welles before he broadcast War of the Worlds or directed Citizen Kane. The sort of things he was pulling off in theater—like staging Caesar with a modern feel (he set the story in…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
‘Invictus’ starts out strong, but then devolves into a mediocre sports movie
by Bob Grimm
Morgan Freeman delivers an astoundingly good performance as Nelson Mandela in Invictus, from director Clint Eastwood. The film seems like it’s on its way to greatness in the beginning, with Mandela dealing with the difficulties of being South Africa’s first black president. Unfortunately, the film goes off track; by its underwhelming sporting-event finale, it has completely lost focus. The film starts with Mandela’s release from prison; a white rugby coach observes his motorcade and states that this will be the…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
‘Bronson’ fails at melding violence, artsy filmmaking and naked penises
by James DiGiovanna
Back in the late ’80s, if you paid money to see a Corey Haim/Corey Feldman movie, you were probably interested in watching a dopey teen comedy. And if you went to see a film starring Jason Robards which focused on the romantic and religious life of an elderly man, you were probably not the audience for a Corey Haim/Corey Feldman movie. Yet the 1989 Haim/Feldman/Robards film Dream a Little Dream inexplicably tried to combine these audiences into some sort of…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
Wes Anderson conquers animation with the charming ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’
by Bob Grimm
Wes Anderson’s cool quirks and characteristics follow him into the land of stop-motion animation with Fantastic Mr. Fox, an eye-popping, hilarious adaptation of the Roald Dahl children’s book. This is essentially a Wes Anderson movie (Rushmore, Bottle Rocket) with eccentric humans replaced by eccentric figurines. It even has the trademark awesome Wes Anderson soundtrack, featuring artists like the Rolling Stones and Jarvis Cocker. The title character, a plucky fox, is voiced by the eternally funny George Clooney, who embodies Mr.…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
‘Antichrist’ might be worth hating, but the film is nonetheless incredibly compelling
by James DiGiovanna
There are certain movies that, though true works of art, are simply unpleasant to watch. Antichrist is not, for most of its duration, one of those movies. It’s ceaselessly compelling, and though the final sequence is as gruesome as anything in modern cinema (or at least as gruesome as anything outside of the murder-porn genre), Antichrist is nonetheless a subtle film that relies more on building tension than graphic displays of gore. Still, that final sequence is over the top,…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
‘New Moon’ is better than the first ‘Twilight’ film, but it’s still too sullen
by Bob Grimm
Somebody needs to buy Kristen Stewart an ice cream cone with sprinkles to cheer her somber ass up. The young actress, who has turned in good work elsewhere, is killing the Twilight movies with her sullen, hyperventilating lovesick routine. The Twilight Saga: New Moon is much better than its predecessor, Twilight: Suck Ass!, but it isn’t good enough to call … well, good. Much of the blame rests on the supple shoulders of Stewart. Yes, I know the part calls…
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.