Frank steers away from almost-Almost Famous territory and into something familiar to anyone who’s seen The Devil and Daniel Johnston; director Abrahamson carries his deft balancing of tonal shifts from his 2012 film What Richard Did over to this effort.
Frank follows a post-internet age Billy Liar and asks, “What if he did follow his dream through, but his idol was a lunatic?” Jon (Domnhall Gleeson), a young middling English songwriter, gets invited to play keyboard for the aforementioned Frank (Michael Fassbender). Frank wears a giant fake head made of papier-mâché and refuses to take it off. Soon, Jon is invited to spend a year in Ireland with the band as they record their painstakingly overblown album, all the while secretly filming it and posting clips to YouTube.
Charm gets you only so far, so it’s lucky that Richard Curtis has three exceedingly likable actors in his new film, About Time. This is very much a Richard Curtis affair, fitting comfortably alongside Notting Hill, Love Actually, and Four Weddings and a Funeral, for good or ill.
Anna Karenina Written for the screen by Tom Stoppard Directed by Joe Wright UK/France, 2012 For most of its running time, Joe Wright’s version of Anna Karenina takes place within interior confines, with nearly every scene occurring on a set of noticeable stages. There are no attempts to disguise the artificiality of the film’s appearance: …
Anna Karenina Written for the screen by Tom Stoppard Directed by Joe Wright UK/France, 2012 For most of its running time, Joe Wright’s version of Anna Karenina takes place within interior confines, with nearly every scene occurring on a set of noticeable stages. There are no attempts to disguise the artificiality of the film’s appearance: …
Dredd Written by Alex Garland Directed by Pete Travis USA/UK/India, 2012 Excluding a much-maligned 1995 adaptation, one of the more notable influences 2000 AD’s Judge Dredd comic book series has had on the film world is informing Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop. Both have corrupt future city settings, helmeted law enforcer protagonists, and often absurd levels of …