“Drive” romanticizes a lot of things that shouldn’t be romanticized: The myth of redemptive violence, dangerous and illegal driving, robbery, evading police and, most egregiously, Members Only jackets. But one thing Nicolas Winding Refn’s 80s-themed, stone-cold badass tale gets right, is the sheer power of cinematic style. The director of other style-over-substance masterpieces such as [...]
After starring as the Mad Hatter in “Alice in Wonderland,” Willy Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie in ”Finding Neverland,” it seems only logical for Johnny Depp to take on one of the most iconic figures in all of children’s literature — Dr. Seuss. Play online poker at PartyPoker.com [...]
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the infamous J. Edgar Hoover, first director of the FBI, in Clint Eastwood’s new drama about one of the most controversial figures in US history. Director: Clint Eastwood Writer: Dustin Lance Black Studio: Warner Bros Pictures Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench Release: November 9, 2011
Mr. Hastings, Assuming you’ve recently been inundated with angry emails, I thought I’d quickly and respectfully explain why so many of your customers are baffled and discouraged by your decision to split the streaming and DVD services. Let me start with a question: What made Netflix great? Fast shipping? Great prices? Yes, both were huge [...]
It’s Guy Fawkes Night, and the South London sky is pulsing with brilliant explosions. In the midst of the celebration, Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is mugged at knife-point by a gang of teen hoodlums. Before they get away with their meager take, however, a flaming object smashes into a nearby car. Moses (John Boyega), the gang’s leader, [...]
The Abyss (1989) The beginning of James Cameron’s love affair with the sea (excluding “Piranha II: The Spawning” of course), “The Abyss” follows a team of offshore oil-rig workers tapped by the military to rescue survivors trapped in a sunken submarine at the bottom of the Cayman Trough. Cameron’s eye for cinematic imagery and flair [...]
Raoul Ruiz, the celebrated, prolific, Chilean-born filmmaker has died. He was 70. Ruiz, not known for a specific standout film, was rather known for his vast catalog of more than 100 innovative, experimental works, which shirked cinematic conventions in favor of the surreal, the satirical and the strange. Ruiz died Friday in Paris from complications [...]
In 1931 Austrian mathematician Kurt Gödel proved what is now known as the Incompleteness Theorem. He demonstrated that within any given system, a robot for example, there would always be at least one proposition, which is true, but which cannot be proven using the rules and axioms of the system itself. Gödel used a variation [...]
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Tuesday to make another change to the nomination phase of the Best Picture competition. Anywhere from five to 10 films will now be nominated, and that number won’t be announced until January when the rest of the nominations are revealed. The change [...]
“Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky is seeking financing for a new film about the Biblical story Noah’s Ark. After “Black Swan,” which grossed $315 million worldwide on a $12 million budget and brought the arthouse director international fame, Aronofsky was attached briefly to direct “The Wolverine,” the sequel to the Hugh Jackman vehicle, “X-Men Origins: [...]
DIFF 2012 Reviews: ‘Cinema Six,’ ‘Compliance,’ ‘Faith, Love and Whiskey’
Things I Don’t Understand (2011)
Jiří Trnka: Animation Retrospective
Lowlights of Cinélatino
Brevity Pays Off
‘A Secret World’ at Cinélatino
‘Future Lasts Forever’ at Sofia
Two Treatments of Italy’s Fascist Past
‘The Leopard’: novel, opera, but above all, film
We’ll always have ‘Casablanca’
