As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob — knowing that [...]
134- Birth (2004)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Genre: Drama
A stylistically bold movie that combines the surrealist work of Luis Buñuel while evoking the austere technical mastery of Stanley Kubrick, Birth is visually dazzling, always unpredictable and features lingering performances by Nicole Kidman and 11-year-old Canadian actor Cameron Bright. Coupled with an intriguing premise about death and [...]
Claire Denis’ 35 Shots of Rum turned out to be 2009’s biggest movie – in film snob circles, that is. Since we’ve already discussed that film, Rick, Simon and special guest Olivier Creurer tackle three of Denis’ other acclaimed features – Beau Travail, Trouble Every Day, and L’Intrus – with varying degrees of success. And [...]
Director Tim Burton never grew up. Normally, this would mean that he should be making Rob Schneider movies. But since he seems to have spent his never-ending childhood making pets out of things he dug up in the graveyard, his dark, simplistic, highly stylized films have taken on the form of gothic fairy tales, [...]
The world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the armored superhero Iron Man. Under pressure from the government, the press, and the public to share his technology with the military, Tony is unwilling to divulge the secrets behind the Iron Man armor because he fears the information will slip into [...]
He’s been nominated for four Academy Awards, and by Tuesday morning, in all likelihood, it’ll be five, but Jeff Bridges isn’t necessarily thought of as a prestige figure. That may change thanks to the release of Crazy Heart, in which he plays a broken-down, aging country star. To celebrate Bridges’ coming into critical favor, Al, [...]
Hailed as one of the preeminent stylists of contemporary Hollywood filmmaking, Kathryn Bigelow was often too easily pigeonholed as a female director with a flair for traditionally masculine movies. After making an unusual entrance to cinema by way of the art world, Bigelow put her distinctive stamp on standard genre films like the Western-twinged vampire [...]
A difficult film to watch, not because it is pornographic, or even all that graphic, but because we watch the characters become increasingly desperate as they realize they are no longer suited to the world around them.
The Night Porter (1974) – Italy
Directed by Lilliana Cavani
118 min. Colour
Criterion Spine # 59
“History is present,” writes E.L. Doctorow [...]
Historically, the “Oscarcast” has pulled in a bigger haul when box-office hits are favored to win the Best Picture trophy. More than 57.25 million viewers tuned to the telecast in 1998, the year of Titanic, which generated close to US$600 million at the North American box office pre-Oscars. With that being said, it is safe [...]
A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop – Last and probably least on the list is Zhang Yimou’s remake of the Coen brothers classic Blood Simple. The film may have underwhelmed at Berlin, despite masterful visuals and committed performances. But it still is a real curiosity with its flamboyant [...]
Greenberg – Hailed as a return to form for Noah Baumbach after 2007’s Margot at the Wedding failed to find an audience. This one stars Ben Stiller as Roger Greenberg a middle aged slacker who, after a nervous breakdown, moves to L.A. to house sit for his wealthy brother. Almost as [...]
The Illusionist – The indisputable masterpiece of the fest was, believe it or not, rejected from entering the competition. Sylvain Chomet’s nearly dialogue-free animated film was made from a script written in the 1950’s by French icon Jacque Tati. For those of you who don’t know, Tati is more or [...]
Rockwell Gust is a graduate of Michigan State University, where he majored in Communications and minored in English. Subsequent to his undergraduate studies, Rockwell moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, but found his passion more aimed towards writing. Rockwell has worked for the script development department of Contra Film Production Company in [...]
Our Pedro Almodovar spotlight concludes with his 1997 breakout hit All About My Mother, which endeared the Spanish filmmaker to a wide international audience. We’ll also be talking about Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, which recently took home the BAFTA for Best British Feature, bating out such heavyweights as An Education. Special guest Eduardo Lucatero, freshly [...]
Horror director George A. Romero has always been known for the social commentary of his films, the political subtext his fans claim transform his gore flicks into the equivalent of a Jackson Pollack painting made with intestines. The Crazies, from 1973, is just such a film; a story about a bioweapon that’s more a [...]
