After five years to the day, George Miller continues his epic penguin odyssey in “Happy Feet Two,” and more than any recent film I have to say I’m befuddled and confused by the terrible reception it has received (although I have my theories on that, which I’ll shortly address) because while it does have its [...]
“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, [...]
Seemingly always en vogue, gangsters have been especially so in recent years. The grand seigneur of American cinema, Martin Scorsese, finally won his long-deserved first Academy Award for Best Achievement in Directing for “The Departed” in 2007. Michael Mann’s 2009 effort “Public Enemies” was a big-budget production with high-dollar stars. The HBO drama “The Sopranos” [...]
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 [...]
Earlier this year, when it was revealed that Anne Hathaway had been cast as Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s hugely anticipated “The Dark Knight Rises,” fans were apprehensive. Had the announcement been made immediately after Hathaway’s career affirming turn in “Rachel Getting Married” (2008), folks might have been a little more accepting. But one over-eager Oscar [...]
The theater doors blast open, and Quentin Tarantino’s band of Jewish soldiers bursts in with fury, guns first. Showering the audience—once their oppressors—in a rain of bullets, the gunmen stand triumphantly on a balcony that deteriorates as it is licked by flames. The viewers fall to their knees at the sight of the screen’s collapse. [...]
I don’t think there is a singular film-maker I’ve found myself having written more about than Australia’s own Dr. George Miller. And now, writing this, I’m still not quite certain of the best way to introduce him, if indeed such a thing is necessary at all. The last of cinema’s thoroughly modern myth-makers – those [...]
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 [...]
Well well well, finally a George Clooney film without “George Clooney.” Indeed, “The American” is a film without much claim to plot, action or dialogue and is yet a compelling watch. I was seduced by its atmospherics and ambition. Anton Corbijn not only has a cool name but has also directed the luminous love letter [...]
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
