Sukiyaki Western Django - Dir. Takashi Miike (2007)
Clash of the samurai and cowboy. Akira Kurosawa meets Sergio Corbucci.
Takashi Miike brings his own unique flourishes and twisted sense of humor to this homage of the Spaghetti Western.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Dir. Sidney Lumet (2007)
Modern day Greek tragedy. A return to form for Lumet.
Tangled web of lies and deceit builds to a life-shattering crescendo of desperation and murder.
Naked Marisa Tomei? YAY! Naked Philip Seymour Hoffman? BOO!
Modern day Greek tragedy. A return to form for Lumet.
Tangled web of lies and deceit builds to a life-shattering crescendo of desperation and murder.
Naked Marisa Tomei? YAY! Naked Philip Seymour Hoffman? BOO!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton - Dir. Tony Gilroy (2007)
Riveting at every moment. Near-flawless effort from Tony Gilroy in his directorial debut.
Reminiscent of the socially relevant thrillers by Sidney Lumet, Alan J. Pakula & Sydney Pollack that marked the 70's
Riveting at every moment. Near-flawless effort from Tony Gilroy in his directorial debut.
Reminiscent of the socially relevant thrillers by Sidney Lumet, Alan J. Pakula & Sydney Pollack that marked the 70's
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Babel
Babel - Dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (2006)
Everything I loved about Crash I detested in Babel.
Characters so mind-boggingly moronic they lack single, solitary sympathetic quality.
Rinko Kikuchi is the sole positive to this trite, preachy, and overrated Oscar bait.
Everything I loved about Crash I detested in Babel.
Characters so mind-boggingly moronic they lack single, solitary sympathetic quality.
Rinko Kikuchi is the sole positive to this trite, preachy, and overrated Oscar bait.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Dir. Shekhar Kapur (2007)
Obnoxiously, overproduced costume drama.
Cate Blanchett is loud and bombastic which is perfect for this loud and bombastic picture.
Obnoxiously, overproduced costume drama.
Cate Blanchett is loud and bombastic which is perfect for this loud and bombastic picture.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Death Proof
Death Proof - Dir. Quentin Tarantino (2007)
Balls-to-the wall climactic car chase more than makes up for Tarantino's penchant for self-indulgent, pseudo-hipster dialogue and oh-so cool pop culture references.
Return to kickass form by Kurt Russell.
Snake Plissken, FTW! Jack Burton, FTW!
Balls-to-the wall climactic car chase more than makes up for Tarantino's penchant for self-indulgent, pseudo-hipster dialogue and oh-so cool pop culture references.
Return to kickass form by Kurt Russell.
Snake Plissken, FTW! Jack Burton, FTW!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America - Dir. Sergio Leone (1984)
Dreary, overwrought and overly long gangster film. Held aloft solely by Sergio Leone's masterful direction.
Bit role from a young (and positively delicious) Jennifer Connelly is a plus.
Dreary, overwrought and overly long gangster film. Held aloft solely by Sergio Leone's masterful direction.
Bit role from a young (and positively delicious) Jennifer Connelly is a plus.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood - Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson (2007)
My pick for best film of 2007.
Masculinity, pure and undiluted, symbolized by not-so-subtle phallic oil wells crumbling and burning in their impotency.
Bleak otherworldly realm made all the more alien by unsettling Jonny Greenwood score.
My pick for best film of 2007.
Masculinity, pure and undiluted, symbolized by not-so-subtle phallic oil wells crumbling and burning in their impotency.
Bleak otherworldly realm made all the more alien by unsettling Jonny Greenwood score.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Kingdom
The Kingdom - Dir. Peter Berg (2007)
Typical big-budget Hollywood fare masquerading as something more profound than it really is.
Pessimistic, zero-sum view on Iraq is no startling revelation.
An action-packed 3rd act makes this a mild recommendation.
Typical big-budget Hollywood fare masquerading as something more profound than it really is.
Pessimistic, zero-sum view on Iraq is no startling revelation.
An action-packed 3rd act makes this a mild recommendation.
Red Road
Red Road - Dir. Andrea Arnold (2006)
Voyeurism on voyeurism.
Uncomfortable intimacy through handheld camera.
Somber, minimalistic successor to Dogme 95 movement would have been made better by more judicious editing.
Voyeurism on voyeurism.
Uncomfortable intimacy through handheld camera.
Somber, minimalistic successor to Dogme 95 movement would have been made better by more judicious editing.
Margot at the Wedding
Margot at the Wedding - Dir. Noah Baumbach (2007)
Clash of the titanic, emotionally damaged, narcissistic intelligentsia.
Woody Allen and Eric Rohmer did it better. Nonetheless, Nicole Kidman is splendid as the neurotic, passive-aggressive title character.
Clash of the titanic, emotionally damaged, narcissistic intelligentsia.
Woody Allen and Eric Rohmer did it better. Nonetheless, Nicole Kidman is splendid as the neurotic, passive-aggressive title character.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Vanishing Point/Two-Lane Blacktop
Vanishing Point - Dir. Richard C. Sarafian (1971)
Two-Lane Blacktop - Dir. Monte Hellman (1971)
A double shot of fast cars on the endless road, escaping the rigid conventions of uptight society. All amidst the drug-addled, existential malaise of the 1970's.
Two-Lane Blacktop - Dir. Monte Hellman (1971)
A double shot of fast cars on the endless road, escaping the rigid conventions of uptight society. All amidst the drug-addled, existential malaise of the 1970's.
Shoot 'Em Up
Shoot 'Em Up - Dir. Michael Davis (2007)
R-rated, live-action Looney Tunes chock full of blood, bullets, and boobs.
John Woo without the pathos. It's Gun-Fu not nearly as majestic or operatic as Woo's "heroic bloodshed" films.
R-rated, live-action Looney Tunes chock full of blood, bullets, and boobs.
John Woo without the pathos. It's Gun-Fu not nearly as majestic or operatic as Woo's "heroic bloodshed" films.
The King of Kong
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Dir. Seth Gordon (2007)
Journey into the subculture of a subculture.
An ode to the bygone days of quarter games, joysticks, and callouses. When life was rendered by simpler, less complex pixels.
Two gunslingers clinging to an archaic way of life march towards a showdown as the world passes them by.
Journey into the subculture of a subculture.
An ode to the bygone days of quarter games, joysticks, and callouses. When life was rendered by simpler, less complex pixels.
Two gunslingers clinging to an archaic way of life march towards a showdown as the world passes them by.
Leatherheads
Leatherheads - Dir. George Clooney (2008)
An overly laborious effort in replicating the cheeky & snappy voices of George Cukor, Preston Sturges, and Howard Hawks. Lacks any genuine sense of wit or on-screen chemistry.
Clooney may be Cary Grant, but Renee Zellwegger is no Rosalind Russell.
An overly laborious effort in replicating the cheeky & snappy voices of George Cukor, Preston Sturges, and Howard Hawks. Lacks any genuine sense of wit or on-screen chemistry.
Clooney may be Cary Grant, but Renee Zellwegger is no Rosalind Russell.
The Bank Job
The Bank Job - Dir. Roger Donaldson (2008)
The gritty, crime-infested London streets of Get Carter given a slick polish by the Hollywood buffing machine.
Skews more towards Jean-Pierre Melville than the cartoonish, hyperactive world of Guy Ritchie.
The gritty, crime-infested London streets of Get Carter given a slick polish by the Hollywood buffing machine.
Skews more towards Jean-Pierre Melville than the cartoonish, hyperactive world of Guy Ritchie.
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