Villains are an essential part of genre cinema. Though scores of filmmakers have attempted to create truly great villains throughout the history of film, only a few have succeeded in achieving this difficult goal. Best Movie Villains 2000s The criteria for this article is the villains must be from live-action films only, and must pose …
Not only is ‘Spectre’ Craig’s best Bond film, it’s the most definitive artistic statement on the super-spy since ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.’
Christoph Waltz is prepping his directorial debut, The Worst Marriage in Georgetown, for which he will also produce and star. In the film, Waltz will play Albrecht Muth, a man who sought to enter the social elite and the privileged political circles by marrying the wealthy, 71-year-old Viola Drath when he was just 26. The …
Big Eyes Written by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski Directed by Tim Burton USA, 2014 It’s difficult to imagine what Tim Burton was trying to accomplish with his latest effort, Big Eyes. Tonally, it’s the most confounding movie of the year, pinging wildly between drama, surrealism and farce. Even the actors seem confused, with each …
At first glance, Tim Burton’s latest, Big Eyes, appears to be a departure from the filmmaker’s general proclivities towards the grotesque and fantastical. Scissor-handed youths, murderous barbers, and obnoxious ghouls are nowhere to be found in this deceptively straightforward biopic of kitsch-master Walter Keane and his wife, Margaret. A cursory glance at the film might lead one to question just what Burton thinks he’s doing in the realm of realism.
There’s nothing more depressing than a lazy comedy, and Horrible Bosses 2 suffers from a terminal case of laziness. Instead of gleefully diving into its richly-black premise, it settles for obvious sight gags and uninspired improvisations. A talented comedic cast is wasted on material that aims for mediocrity and hits the target over and over again. There simply aren’t enough laughs here to justify this film’s existence.
Today’s Week in Review takes us to the highly probable rumor mill and some potentially sensational casting. First up, The Daily Mail is reporting that Christoph Waltz is on board to be the villain in the still untitled, Sam Mendes-helmed Bond 24. The Daily Mail was also the source behind other potential Bond news regarding …
Rather than the political surveillance looked at in Brazil, corporate surveillance is the primary focus, though the film’s weak digs at both that and the impersonal nature of our online modern age lack any of the bite of the earlier film. Exploration of the latter idea certainly isn’t helped by the writing of Bainsley, a character lacking in any agency of her own. Thierry is victim to an uncomfortable amount of fetishistic objectification, present even outside of the few scenes in which it contextually makes a little sense. Kim Griest’s well-rounded, independent heroine is just one of the ways in which Brazil still has punch today as a key science fiction work; The Zero Theorem, an effort that never excels, is a light shove at best.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one already: a low-level cog in a comically large bureaucratic environment in a grotesque-looking “future” dystopia struggles in the face of obsolescence and oblivion. The character in question is fundamentally good, but incredibly weedy, their resolve and spirit having been ground to stumps by the world around them.
Though writer Pat Rushin scripted and conceived the story of The Zero Theorem, one can be forgiven for assuming Terry Gilliam came up with the narrative himself, being that it comes across as the work of someone who either saw every film Gilliam’s ever made or just happened to direct them. Indeed, The Zero Theorem sees Gilliam very much in his storytelling and thematic comfort zones, though sadly to diminishing returns. It openly scrounges scraps from earlier efforts, especially Brazil, but has little idea how to develop its ever so slightly different ideas beyond thin sketches.
September, as most cinephiles know, is a month almost entirely lacking in film festivals. What’s that? Something going on in Toronto? A film festival, and it’s happening right now? Well, if you say so. Seriously, though, with TIFF starting in full today, and the New York Film Festival kicking off once again at the end …
Saturday Night Live hasn’t chosen the best of hosts this season. There has been at least three terrible episodes, and the SNL team hasn’t been able to produce a solid, much less, stand-out, sketch… until now. With only a few days left before Oscar voting closes, Supporting Actor nominee Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), was given …
Before Zach Galifianakis gained mass popularity for being one third of the odd trio that comprised the core cast of The Hangover, he was known in the comedy community for his Between Two Ferns series, which sees Galifianakis interview actors, with the conversation not going the way these things tend to go. Now, with the Academy …
Now that we are nearing the big awards of the season, it is time to revisit the nominations and predictions for the 2013 BAFTAs. Part 2 will cover the following categories: (see part one here) Best Film Best British Film Leading Actor Leading Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Director The EE BAFTA …
In just barely over a week since its Christmas release, Quentin Tarantino’s eighth feature film, Django Unchained, has exhaustively become a source of public controversy for its setting amongst southern, pre-Civil War plantations where the height of the black man’s plight in the United States was the accepted norm. Not the least of the film’s …
Django Unchained Directed by Quentin Tarantino Written by Quentin Tarantino USA, 2012 Quentin Tarantino wears his style on his sleeve. Homages, tributes, and callbacks to older films, forgotten performers, and oft-ignored genres are part and parcel of his filmography. But one element of his aesthetic has become more pronounced over the years: his fierce, almost …
Django Unchained Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino USA, 2012 If you ask a girl about the nuances of makeup, she’ll probably tell you that great technique is one where you barely notice the result. Ask a filmmaker about the nuances of editing and he or she will probably tell you the same. Ask Quentin …
Django Unchained Written by Quentin Tarantino Directed by Quentin Tarantino USA, 2012 Has Quentin Tarantino’s work to date actually been…restrained? It’s not a descriptor often thrown at the populist auteur, whose frequently digressionary writing style and dual penchants for graphic violence and meta-textual indulgences has made him one of the most easily distinguished popular filmmakers …
Quentin Tarantino is credited for his homages to lesser-known cinematic gems. So much so, he has his own film festival in Austin, Texas. His films have helped revitalise the genres and styles amongst the hidden depths of world cinema but have also helped the careers of various actors and actresses, propelling them to the public …
Carnage Directed by Roman Polanski Written by Roman Polanski and Yasmina Reza 2011, France/Germany/Spain Roman Polanski has made his first comedy since 1972’s What?, and it’s very funny. Comedy is the easiest and the hardest genre to review. The biggest question is how many laughs does the film contain, but you have to pinpoint why …
Carnage Directed by Roman Polanski Written by Roman Polanski (screenplay), Yasmina Reza (play) 2011, France Carnage is a lean story about a group of people who cannot leave an apartment. Sometimes they manage to go into an alternate room, even as far as getting into an elevator, but somehow each person is pulled together again. …
Carnage Directed by Roman Polanski Written by Roman Polanski (screenplay), Yasmina Reza (play) 2011, USA Today proved to be the most populous screening at the Lincoln Center yet, and I should have known better. As the Q&A for Miss Bala came to an end, a rush of press got up and headed for the exit. …
Since 2009’s successful Inglourious Basterds and its subsequent awards season run for 2010, Quentin Tarantino has stayed relatively under the radar with his film developments…until last week. Deadline caught Tarantino out at an Oscar afterparty and got an exclusive word from the famed director/writer that he will be setting up shop at the Weinstein Company …