An all-new teaser for Samuel Bayer/Michael Bay’s Nightmare On Elm Street rework has crept out onto the internet. A re-imagining of the horror icon Freddy Krueger, a serial-killer who wields a glove with four blades embedded in the fingers and kills people in their dreams, resulting in their real death in reality. The project has [...]
The Intruder is a dying man’s long goodbye and at times recalls Jim Jarmush’s Dead Man The Intruder (2004) Directed by Claire Denis Inspired by a short book written by philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy about his heart transplant, The Intruder works best viewed as an adaptation of a metaphor. The film starts vaguely, increases in abstraction, [...]
This heartwarming, humanist and gender-blurring pic about life imitating art imitating life could possibly be his most accomplished work. All About My Mother Directed by Pedro Almodovar With All About My Mother, Pedro Almodovar shifts away from his earlier, more kinky and offbeat views of sex and relationships. Here, he is more concerned about conventional [...]
Cinema as we know it is under threat from cell phones – those super-slim, shiny and increasingly seductive devices around which 21st-century life revolves. No, I’m not talking about the popcorn-munching, Apple-loving text addicts, whose glowing handsets ruin the big-screen experience for the rest of us. And I’m not losing any sleep over the DIY [...]
150- The Birthday (2004) Directed by Eugenio Mira Genre: Horror, Dark Comedy A young man attends his girlfriend’s father’s birthday party held at a luxury hotel. Just as they arrive, weird things start to happen and guests and hosts alike become exceptionally aggressive. Shot in real time (a la Hitchcock’s Rope), The Birthday begins as [...]
Fish Tank Directed by Andrea Arnold – “less politically inclined than Ken Loach or theatrically mannered than Mike Leigh – the film operates in a realm well-trod in UK cinema and serves as a welcome antidote to the adrenaline-fueled demands of the summer season.” – The UK has a proud tradition of social realist cinema, pioneered by [...]
Wasting no time establishing its premise, The Crazies begins as a taut horror film and remains en effective journey through paranoia and conspiracy theories The Crazies Directed by Breck Eisner Fear Thy Neighbour The Crazies is about the inhabitants of a small Kansas town systematically plagued by insanity after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water [...]
This may be the year the Oscars get out of their ratings slump. The expanding of the Best Picture category from five to ten was a smart move. Its big enough to include red state crowd pleasers (The Blind Side), fan boy fare (District 9), the biggest movie ever (Avatar), and at least one ballsy [...]
The Last Station feels more like a stuffy old British play than actual history The Last Station Directed by Michael Hoffman The Last Station presents the fascinating last year in the life of Russian giant Leo Tolstoy, watered down by a cavalcade of coming-of-age story and biopic clichés. It’s too bad, because there is so [...]
It’s hard to believe that after nearly 200 hours of programming, we’ve never had an episode tailored around the singular talents of one of America’s most revered filmmakers: Martin Scorsese. Shutter Island, the Dennie Lehane adaptation that was unceremoniously delayed for five months, found its way to theaters this past weekend and brought in Scorsese’s [...]
Our focus on European cinema continues with part three, in which we finally get around to Revanche, the Austrian film nominated for Best Foreign Feature at the Oscars last year, which has gotten a swanky DVD release courtesy of Janus Films and the Criterion Collection just this past week. Additionally, with the help of returning [...]
Wu-tang, originating from Staten Island, NY, aka Shaolin, burst onto the scene in the early 90’s. Ever since, the group has had a significant impact on a wide range of artistic mediums, including film. Whether it’s RZA spinning a slick, unique bass line to complement a flick, or Method Man lighting up an L and [...]
Revanche is a tough slow, depressing film, but incredibly well-acted, consistently believable, and an always entertaining, modest, satisfying arty crime story. – Revanche (2008) Directed by Gotz Spielmann Australia – 122 mi. Color Criterion Spine #502 “If you plan revenge, dig two graves,” the saying goes… A prostitute trying to escape her desperate existence, her [...]
Shutter Island does not measure up to Scorsese’s acknowledged directorial capacity. His flair for innovation and the uniqueness of his storytelling are better directed toward a simpler design, not the blockbuster horror epic with its altogether fatuous termination. Shutter Island Directed by Martin Scorsese Shutter Island, Scorsese’s fourth film featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, recounts the unnerving [...]
Shutter Island definitely begs a second viewing, and while it might not rank up there with earlier Scorsese classics, it remains a masterpiece in my eyes, and a production that has set the new standard for all future psychological thrillers. Shutter Island Directed by Martin Scorsese Before seeing Shutter Island, all I knew about the [...]
The American: Visions of damnation
A look back at “Wings Of Desire”
Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes)
8: The Mormon Proposition
This Movie is Broken
The Last Exorcism: A surprisingly invigorating horror film
A Look Back At Spielberg’s Masterpiece “Jaws”
Fausta: The Milk of Sorrow
MIFF2010: The Illusionist
Piranha 3d
The Switch
Afterschool
Rampage
Stonewall Uprising
Toronto After Dark 2010: Doghouse (Review #1)
The Expendables
Toronto After Dark 2010: Last Lovecraft (Review #1)
