Thursday night at 11:30 p.m. EST, the highly anticipated and Beyonce video “Telephone” made its world premiere. The nearly 10-minute extravaganza directed by Jonas Åkerlund (director of the infamously bad Spun) was inspired by the work of Quentin Tarantino — Kill Bill in particular. (The actual pussy wagon even makes an appearance.) They story [...]
Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love has received near unanimous raves in Venice, Toronto and Sundance, so I have to admit my anticipation is high for this one. So high, that I thought disappointment was inevitable. Then I caught the UK trailer for this one and it knocked my socks off. The visuals are stunning, the [...]
Technically, the film is a marvel – this is Heneke’s first black and white film and it’s simply dazzling.
The White Ribbon
Directed by Michael Haneke
-
There’s always a certain kind of dread in a Mikael Haneke film. It could perhaps be do his reputation for exploring some of the most shocking aspects of society, but [...]
Despite that fact that the competition this year underwhelmed (see Shane Danielsen’s column) there were sill some pleasant surprises and curiosities that are helping 2010 become another great year in film. Two recent releases premiered over the past couple weeks. Martin Scosesse’s Shutter Island got a mixed response, which translated the same stateside. While Roman [...]
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 much to explore [...]
It’s a new year and a new decade. Here’s looking forward to a prosperous decade of cinema. Will it known for a slew of sequels and comic book adaptations and funny cat videos like the 00’s were? Or will it be known for groundbreaking and socially relevant cinema like the 70s? There’s a glimmer of [...]
I want to highlight some of the most criminally underseen films of 2009. Most are without any American distribution and others may just get small (and potentially unnoticeable) releases next year. It’s quite sad that many of these movies will never have the opportunity to find an audience. There is word of mouth potential for [...]
Originally Posted in Creative Loafing.
With the loud, dumb and often-disappointing summer movie season behind us, I go into fall with some optimism. There’s a good amount of work by reliable writers and filmmakers, which gives the season a lot of potential. And it’s our first bombardment of Oscar Bait, with many of the titles here [...]
The teaser trailer for Tron Legacy (formerly Tron 2.0) has launched us into fanboy heaven. The famous racing sequence has been updated with some advanced CGI, but is still thankfully stylized in the tradition of the original 1981 cult classic. This isn’t new to anyone who was at last year’s Comic Con, however - it’s [...]
James Cameron’s 12-years-in-the-making, $250 million production appeared to deliver the goods and live up to the hype after a 25-minute screening of Avatar was greeted to a standing ovation on Thursday night. At least in terms of the visuals, most agree that the sneak peek has displayed some of the most advanced CGI ever produced. [...]
Mathew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake) has returned with his adaptation of the comic book series about a nerd who decides to become a super hero with no powers or training. Many are ecstatic over Vaughn’s approach to the genre that mixes a lighthearted tone with gruesome violence and vulgar language – and apparently he’s also [...]
Spike Jonze’s long-awaited adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book has been greeted with one of the most enthusiastic responses at Comic Con (rivaling Avatar and Kick Ass). The 10 minutes that was shown included scenes of the creatures playing and building a fort, and apparently it left audiences stunned. They have also released a [...]
It was the last big film presentation this year and drew a huge applause. Many were anxious to see if the film would live up to the first film’s sensational appearance in 2007. The footage included Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) being approached by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to join the Avengers. There was [...]
Variety reports that Cate Blanchett is set to star as Lady Edwina Mountbatten in Joe Wright’s Indian Summer. The film will follow the critical events during India’s Independence from England. Lord Mountbatten (with Edwina in tow) is sent to oversee the transfer of power to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the summer of [...]
