I feel sorry for M. Night Shyamalan. After “The Last Airbender” debacle and the graceless marketing scheme for “The Happening” as his first rated-R film, M. Night needs an overhaul, and maybe some kind-hearted praise for what he’s done right in his films. There is a divisiveness evident in nearly all of his films—you either [...]
“Melancholia” is Lars von Trier’s intelligent, melodramatic, achingly beautiful and wickedly funny new film. It tells the story of Justine (a transcendent Kirsten Dunst), a severe depressive, and her doting and practical sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Justine’s depression takes the corporeal shape of a planet called Melancholia, which is on a steady collision course with [...]
“The Future” took my breath away. And when I say it took my breath away, I don’t mean to say I was enraptured by its profound insight into the “frailty of the human condition,” a much loathed and overused phrase. Instead of being uplifted, I was left with a lump in my throat. This is [...]
About twenty minutes into Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” there is a sequence that chronicles the creation of the universe. There is darkness, then supernovas of stellar light, volcanic eruptions, fire, and colossal swells of waves and gushing water. Once the earth as we have come to know and recognize it has taken shape, [...]
I had recently watched Ingmar Bergman’s all-time-downer classic, “Cries and Whispers,” for the second time when an article critiquing the latest phenomenon of young, sexualized and violent female film characters appeared in the New York Times. Chief Times film critics A.O Scott and Manohla Dargis cite “Kick-Ass,” “Sucker Punch,” and the “Millennium” trilogy as films [...]
The month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of exits and entrances. Janus is most commonly depicted in ancient art as having two faces, one looking backwards while the other looks forward. Janus is also symbolic of changes and transformations. The prospect of exiting and entering, of endings and new beginnings, and [...]
I scarcely remember grinning as much during a film as I did while watching “Let Me In.” Grinning during a horror movie, you ask? Allow me to explain. It was an all-encompassing smile of pleasure, joy, satisfaction, surprise, and a little bit of awe at how carefully and reverently this film was adapted by American [...]
As Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” arrives on DVD, I felt compelled give the film a second viewing. What I found was this: despite the overwhelming controversy surrounding the film’s gratuitous sexual violence, the most troubling, terrifying moments in “Antichrist” were essentially sexless and bloodless — and talking fox-less. I realized that much of “Antichrist’s” terror [...]
“Splice,” the new film by Canadian director Vincenzo Natali, is a revitalizing standout in the long-suffering genre of sci-fi/horror. Instead of veering into predictable B-movie, torture-porn tendencies, “Splice” is a serious, insightful commentary on scientific and human ethics. It is also self-effacing, ghoulishly funny, and fearless in its willingness to be shocking and thought-provoking without [...]
After viewing Cristian Mungiu’s utterly mesmerizing and criminally underappreciated “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” I may finally understand the meaning, or at least one aspect, of the much debated term, mise-en-scène. To explain my sudden realization I will focus on (with regret) only one scene, the first shot of the film, and analyze [...]
Loco: London’s 1st Comedy Film Festival
Orlando: Does Sex Matter?A soothing demise: Lars von Trier’s ‘Melancholia’ considered
The Power of Limits in The Five Obstructions
Surviving ‘Surviving Life’
‘The Other’ at The 2nd London Iranian Film Festival
‘Leaving’: Made in Prague
A Step Forward: New African Film in Paris
Adapting to The Skin I Live In: The Antidote to Horror
Chicken with Plums: Better on Paper
