A Family drama/comedy Written and directed by Tamara Jenkins In Slums of Beverly Hills, Tamara Jenkins explored adolescence and the beginning of adult responsibility. In her new film, The Savages, she explores its end. More specifically, The Savages concerns itself with two siblings in early middle-age confronting that very difficult moment in life when a … Continue reading The Savages
Category: Reviews
Atonement
Historical, romantic drama Written by Christopher Hampton, from the novel by Ian McEwan Directed by Joe Wright Sweeping historical epics sweep by a lot faster, these days. According to the Internet Movie Database, the very British World War II love story Atonement runs only 130 minutes. It felt like only about 120 to me. And … Continue reading Atonement
Youth Without Youth
Arty fantasy thriller Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola Stylistically, it’s an art film, with slow pacing, a mix of muted and striking colors, and unusual camera angles. Yet the plot sounds like a superhero comic-book movie: Lightning strikes a 70-year-old college professor, but instead of killing him, it recovers his youth and gives … Continue reading Youth Without Youth
No Country for Old Men
Thriller Written and directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen Based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy The Coen brothers haven't quite topped themselves with their latest crime-gone-wrong thriller; Fargo is still their best picture. But they never before made anything so dark and depressing as No Country for Old Men. Or so bereft of … Continue reading No Country for Old Men
I’m Not There
Musical biopic/mockumentary/weird undefinable something Written by Todd Haynes and Oren Moverman Directed by Todd Haynes Artists should experiment, try new things, push the boundaries of their art. There can be no masterpieces without experimentation. But since experimentation involves trying something that may or may not work, failure is a real possibility. (I'm talking about artistic … Continue reading I’m Not There
Enchanted
B Family-friendly fantasy comedy Written by Bill Kelly Directed by Kevin Lima Howard Hawks’ famous criteria for a great film–three good scenes and no bad ones–almost applies to this family fantasy. It has more than three great scenes. But it also has a few that border on the edge of just plain bad, and some … Continue reading Enchanted
The Red Balloon & White Mane
B A pair of family-friendly short subjects Written and directed by Albert Lamorisse It's not easy marketing and distributing shorts in an industry geared to features. That's probably why Janus Films put two short children's films by Albert Lamorisse together into one package. Combined, "The Red Balloon" and "White Mane" run 73 minutes--just about the … Continue reading The Red Balloon & White Mane
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Crime drama Written by Kelly Masterson Directed by Sidney Lumet What fascinates us about crimes going horribly wrong? There’s Double Indemnity, One False Move, A Simple Plan and most movies by the Coen Brothers. Now Sidney Lumet, probably our oldest working film director, tries his hand with Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. And even … Continue reading Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Romance and Cigarettes
Musical Written and directed by John Turturro To a radical non-smoker like myself--someone who finds the act of smoking about as sexy as Dick Cheney--the very term "Romance and Cigarettes" seems odd. That's appropriate. John Turturro's musical tragi-comedy about marriage and adultery is a very odd motion picture. The songs are familiar hits, and for … Continue reading Romance and Cigarettes
Redacted
War drama Written and directed by Brian De Palma An American soldier in Iraq videos everything he sees. A French documentary shows how checkpoints work and why they don’t. A security camera captures thugs planning a violent crime and talking about it afterwards, seemingly unaware that everything they do and say is getting recorded. People … Continue reading Redacted
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