At the screening I attended of Jan Švankmajer’s Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (2010), there were two walk-outs. I was tempted to follow, but my love of the great Czech animator’s previous work won out, making me want to experience, if not enjoy, every minute of his latest film. Newcomers to Švankmajer would do [...]
Critics can be a fickle bunch. Lavishing this, lambasting that. But with most films it’s relatively easy to predict the critical response. Originality, cohesiveness, perky dialogue and fleshed out characters get the O.K. Convoluted stories, dull characters and shameless wish-fulfillment fantasies are blasted. But since “Jaws” gave birth to the summer blockbuster in 1975, and that [...]
Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno, Guillermo del Toro 2006) is a film that seems to come up frequently on lists of top ten favourite films: finally having the opportunity to see it, I was curious to see what had attracted people to this film. Pan’s Labyrinth should feel at home alongside a film like [...]
In last week’s blog I talked about the experience of seeing a film with low expectations, and the potential this has to skew one’s judgement, making a surprisingly good film seem even better than it really is. I had the opposite experience that same week when I went to see Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who [...]
Two parts “Captain Planet,” one part “Star Wars.” Mix together in a large bowl of rock-paper-scissors. Replace ethnic characters with white Americans. Cast “The Daily Show” comedian as evil fire lord. Bake for 103 minutes. If you’re interested in seeing M. Night Shyamalan’s cartoonish adaptation of Nickelodeon’s hugely popular animated television series, save yourself ten bucks and [...]
The trilogy used to be the golden standard for film franchises prior to the aughts. Every now and then a “James Bond” or a “Godzilla” or a “Star Trek” would come along and break the mold, creating a veritable cash cow for the property’s delighted studio. But properties with that level of fan loyalty and [...]
Hollywood’s escalating war on originality is far-reaching. Independent films are finding it more difficult than ever to find distribution, tent-pole summer releases have a set a new precedent for mindless banality and virtually every film ever released will be remade, twice, by the end of next year. But perhaps the most troubling effect of Hollywood’s [...]
This is a tipping point movie. Through some pretty good work on some pretty good films, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp were able to build a deep reservoir of goodwill that saw them through some less-than-spectacular collaborations. But this film is more than a misfire. Here they’ve crossed a line into a bizarre (not in [...]
Everything you’ve heard about “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” is true. It is a poorly acted poorly written kids’ fantasy that borrows in equal parts from Harry Potter and the CliffsNotes of Greek Mythology. But should people with young teens see it? Sure. It’s bad, but not offensively so. Logan Lerman plays [...]
Peter Jackson’s first feature since 2005′s remake of “King Kong” is, contrary to first impressions, not so much a departure from that picture. The former gross-out horror auteur-turned Oscar-winning director of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy has always had a special knack for visual touches. From schlocky blood and guts to giant talking trees [...]
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 ObstructionsSurviving ‘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
