Don’t Worry About Me Directed by David Morrissey British actor David Morrissey has had his share of highs and lows. With starring roles in acclaimed TV series like Holding On, State of Play and Blackpool, he had Doctor Who fans talking up his chances of replacing David Tennant in the iconic role that eventually went …
The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories. Films in these categories, as well as the Spotlight …
Marwencol Directed by Jeff Malmberg One of the more downright inspirational films here is Marwencol, the story of accidental artist Mark Hogencamp. After being targeted and beaten outside of a club one night, Hogencamp came out of a coma with severe physical and mental damage. His personal attempt at recuperation was to construct a 1/6th scale reproduction of a small …
The film is never preachy, and whatever your stance on America’s “War on Drugs,” this film is an astounding and essential peak at some of its main players. Dirty Pictures Etienne Sauret Etienne Sauret’s new documentary, largely focused on the life of underground hero Sasha Shulgin and his wife, Ann, is an engrossing film and is …
Despite its many flaws, Alice is half a triumph. Besides being able to technically bring Lewis Carroll’s world to the screen, the film is usually enjoyable. Alice in Wonderland Directed by Tim Burton Reviewing the new Tim Burton helmed Alice in Wonderland picture is somewhat of a fool’s errand. Both Burton and Alice command a devoted …
Despite that fact that the competition this year underwhelmed (see Shane Danielsen’s column) there were sill some pleasant surprises and curiosities that are helping 2010 become another great year in film. Two recent releases premiered over the past couple weeks. Martin Scosesse’s Shutter Island got a mixed response, which translated the same stateside. While Roman …
150- The Birthday (2004) Directed by Eugenio Mira Genre: Horror, Dark Comedy A young man attends his girlfriend’s father’s birthday party held at a luxury hotel. Just as they arrive, weird things start to happen and guests and hosts alike become exceptionally aggressive. Shot in real time (a la Hitchcock’s Rope), The Birthday begins as …
Revanche is a tough slow, depressing film, but incredibly well-acted, consistently believable, and an always entertaining, modest, satisfying arty crime story. – Revanche (2008) Directed by Gotz Spielmann Australia – 122 mi. Color Criterion Spine #502 “If you plan revenge, dig two graves,” the saying goes… A prostitute trying to escape her desperate existence, her …
Shutter Island does not measure up to Scorsese’s acknowledged directorial capacity. His flair for innovation and the uniqueness of his storytelling are better directed toward a simpler design, not the blockbuster horror epic with its altogether fatuous termination. Shutter Island Directed by Martin Scorsese Shutter Island, Scorsese’s fourth film featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, recounts the unnerving …
Shutter Island definitely begs a second viewing, and while it might not rank up there with earlier Scorsese classics, it remains a masterpiece in my eyes, and a production that has set the new standard for all future psychological thrillers. Shutter Island Directed by Martin Scorsese Before seeing Shutter Island, all I knew about the …
IFC Films has announced that it has acquired the U.S. rights to Todd Solondz’s Life During Wartime, his part sequel/part variation on his 1998 Indie hit Happiness. The film features many characters from Happiness only played by different actors this time around. The cast includes Ally Sheedy, Allison Janney, Shirley Henderson, Ciaran Hinds, Paul Reubens, …
On balance, Borut’s charming narration, the background footage, and the remarkable nature of the undertaking itself mean that this is a film worth seeing, even if it fails to match the ambition of the man at its centre. Big River Man Directed by John Maringouin He’s an overweight 53-year-old man who used to be a …
69 – A Serious Man (2009) Directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, The Coen Brothers deliver their most intimate film yet. Expanding upon some of the themes they’ve played with in the past, the film deals with everything from man’s search for meaning, …
Before I get to number 49 I feel the need to list fifty honorable mentions. This is a very personal list and I am confident that I could have easily chosen 100 foreign language films or 100 independent art house films and skipped out on all the Hollywood flicks, but I decided to go with …
Runner-up: 11) Idiocracy (2006) I initially felt iffy about including Idiocracy on this list, but the more I thought about it critically, and as a work of science fiction, the more I felt it appropriate. Still, I’m only listing it as the runner-up. Created by Mike Judge of many other comedic successes, this time travel …
59- Capturing the Friedmans (2003) Directed by Andrew Jarecki Genre: Documentary On the surface, the Friedmans were a typical 1980s American family until on one Thanksgiving Day, when that happy façade came to a crashing halt. After the local police discovered the dad had engaged in the buying and selling of child pornography, they questioned …
69 – A Serious Man (2009) Directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, The Coen Brothers deliver their most intimate film yet. Expanding upon some of the themes they’ve played with in the past, the film deals with everything from man’s search for meaning, …
Two pianists, two war films of disconcerting beauty, lots of weight loss and some black chadors – here are some of the best international films of the decade. 1. Gegen die Wand / Head-on (2004) Directed / Written by Fatih Akin Drama, Germany & Turkey If a film ever deserved the characterisation of possessing …
79– Divine Intervention (2002) Directed by Elia Suleiman Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama Palestinian writer-director Elia Suleiman has rightfully been compared to Charlie Chaplin with his talent to create such brilliant deadpan black out sketches in the midst of his long slow-paced moments of expressive silence. Divine Intervention is his second feature, best described as the …
10. WITH HONORS (1994) Not a film that pops up on most holiday lists, however, With Honors exudes the quintessential holiday spirit with a memorable final act, thoroughly laced with virtue, love and friendship. With Honors is the story of smug Harvard student; Montgomery Kessler (the name aptly characterizes Brendan Fraser) who meets squatter Simon …
Writer-director Richard Kelly hasn’t been around too long, but his three features have all been the subject of intense debate: Is Donnie Darko the great sci-fi fable of the 2000s or a teen angst pretension pit? Is Southland Tales, as the Village Voice’s J. Hoberman contends, a a “visionary” film, or creative control gone horribly …
Smash Cut, about a B-movie director who begins killing people to improve the realism of his special effects, is the type of film that gives cult film fans fever dreams, full of porn stars and blood spatter and everything else that Pat Robertson thinks causes hurricanes. Starring adult film actress Sasha Grey, Last House on …
Fantasia Festival is North America’s premiere (and largest) genre film festival. It is also my favorite film festival and so I could not wait to share the highlights of this years line up. Below is just some of the films we will be reviewing on our upcoming podcasts. THE CHILDREN – North American Premiere UK …