Movies

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Thursday, 28 June 2007 05:31

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Thursday, 28 June 2007 05:18

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Written by Matt Newlin Friday, 22 June 2007 03:31

How is it that the opening of a film which revisits what millions of Americans were captivated and eventually disturbed by is hardly raising any national conversation at all? Could it be that Jolie's off-camera life is overshadowing the important message and emotions the story is meant to present?

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Written by Joe Bowman Friday, 22 June 2007 03:26

La Vie en Rose is a romanticized version of Edith Piaf, from the "humble beginnings" being raised in her grandmother's whorehouse to her wild international success.

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Saturday, 16 June 2007 07:12

The Silver Surfer is quite detailed and realistic; as is the opening shot of a far off planet dissolving into a burning mass of rubble and ash as it's annihilated. But other, seemingly simpler, effects end up looking cheap and silly. Reed's stretchiness, for instance, comes off as unbelievably goofy.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Friday, 15 June 2007 01:49

Roberts is never lampooning someone who is a goody-goody and doesn't quite fit in. She merely exists as Nancy Drew, never making exceptions or excuses.

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Saturday, 09 June 2007 10:50

Now we have Ocean's Thirteen, and it returns Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) and pals to Vegas, where their mentor Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) has just been unceremoniously screwed out of his part ownership in a luxurious new hotel-casino on the Strip. The baddie, a distinguished addition to the cast, is Al Pacino, clearly relishing his role as Las Vegas kingpin Willie Bank (the casino itself is merely called "The Bank"). 

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Saturday, 09 June 2007 10:35

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Friday, 25 May 2007 16:00

Practically everyone carries a bag (especially members of the press), so not having a bag lets you breeze past the inevitably long line to get your bag checked, which often means the difference between a decent seat and an awful seat, missing the first few minutes of a movie, etc. So, I wear a coat. Mine currently has a film of sweat all over the inside of it, and it is gross.

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Thursday, 24 May 2007 16:00

This turned out to be a great idea, as I’d never heard Breillat speak before, and she was just as fiery as I wanted her to be. For example, when one reporter asked her what her limits are in terms of content and the unpleasant subject matter she favors, she shot back (in French, the following quote is the translation offered by the onsite interpreter), “There are no limits. Only society has limits.” She also says that she instructed Asia to not read the book that the film is based on, because it is too long.

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Written by Laura Hamlett Thursday, 24 May 2007 12:33

After two or three days of shooting, John kept on saying, "Pull back, pull back from character," until eventually it was just me saying the line as meself, and he was like, "Perfect." The closer we got to non-acting, the happier John seemed to be.

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Written by Jared Vandergriff Thursday, 24 May 2007 03:47

Jack's old friends and older enemies rescue him from his afterlife in Davy Jones' Locker, which is much larger and more surreal than one might think. After one scene in particular, you'll never look at rocks on the beach quite the same way.

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Wednesday, 23 May 2007 16:00

Outside on the Croisette right now is the gala premiere of Death Proof. They were blaring “Little Green Bag” a minute ago. I’m sure “Misirlou” will be played in short order.

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Tuesday, 22 May 2007 16:00

Outside on the Croisette right now is the gala premiere of Death Proof. They were blaring “Little Green Bag” a minute ago. I’m sure “Misirlou” will be played in short order.

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Monday, 21 May 2007 16:00

Outside on the Croisette right now is the gala premiere of Death Proof. They were blaring “Little Green Bag” a minute ago. I’m sure “Misirlou” will be played in short order.

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Written by Joe Bowman Monday, 21 May 2007 09:44

Veber's script is clever and sweet-natured, and he tricks you into thinking you're a step ahead of the film.

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Sunday, 20 May 2007 16:00

This morning was the press screening of the new Gus Van Sant film, Paranoid Park, which is about a young skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard and then decides not to tell anyone. As it sounds, the film plays very much like how Van Sant tackling a Larry Clark movie would be.

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Saturday, 19 May 2007 16:00

Although this year’s festival has so far perhaps been better to me both in terms of films and experiences than any other festival I’ve ever been to, it is dispiriting when you see five films in a day and four of them are disappointing, boring, or outright bad.

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Friday, 18 May 2007 16:00

I've long thought that Moore is a great filmmaker but a questionable political thinker, but that doesn't keep me from looking forward to his films (I didn't care for Fahrenheit 9/11, but have thoroughly enjoyed all of his other films so far). Sicko is a very good and very important film, easily of the caliber of Bowling for Columbine, but I think that it will lose a lot of its intended effect having come from Moore and not someone else; he just has too much baggage these days.

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Written by Joe Bowman Friday, 18 May 2007 02:25

Though most audiences are hardly stranger to the coming-of-age trend in cinema, Wild Tigers I Have Known is something a bit different.

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Friday, 18 May 2007 01:40

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Thursday, 17 May 2007 07:50

This is the sort of movie that hardcore, longtime Joy Division fans will probably both love and hate—it’s a great tribute to a great band (and a great film in and of itself), but it’s actually so good that it will likely bring a lot of wienerish masses into getting into Joy Division and acting like they have been all along. Get ready for them to become popular again.

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Thursday, 17 May 2007 01:25

Seeing as how I am a fan of all three of these filmmakers, and also since for once I am trying to see less movies than I have in years past (so I don’t, you know, die), it seemed worth it to at least send of the request and await the inevitable rejection (note that just because I received the invitation to request an interview by no means means that I will actually get said interview).

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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 01:35

Our Film Editor Pete Timmermann takes you to France with his daily updates from the Cannes Film Festival. Read Pete's take on dozens of new films and day's highlights from the film industry's biggest festival. 

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Written by Joe Hodes Monday, 14 May 2007 03:55

Unfortunately, 28 Weeks Later... is nothing more than a substandard horror knockoff, an inferior and fuzzy Xerox copy of the original.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Monday, 14 May 2007 03:17

Just when the material is too close to home or unsettling, screenwriter Mark Andrus pulls the audience back with a true bit of real-life humor to give the scene levity and to give the viewer a moment to breathe.

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Written by Dave Jasmon Monday, 14 May 2007 03:12

Waitress is a magnificent tribute to Adrienne Shelly's talent as a filmmaker, a talent built upon warmth, wit, and wonder, and a talent that will be missed.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Saturday, 05 May 2007 04:10

3 is far and away the scariest and darkest Spider-Man thus far.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Saturday, 05 May 2007 04:07

Barrymore is either playing Billie as the most naïve person on the planet or as someone who, in real life, would be too stupid to function on a normal basis.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Monday, 30 April 2007 14:31

Though the dialogue is anything but subtle in its messages, Breckel's goal is rather apropos considering the state of entertainment today.

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Written by Dan Heaton Wednesday, 25 April 2007 14:12

Few pictures have delivered the personal emotional force of The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Ken Loach's unsentimental tale won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and its impact will stay with you for a very long time.

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Written by Kevin Renick Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:07

Anthony Hopkins does a winking riff on his infamous Hannibal Lecter performance (at one point, you half expect him to start gnashing his teeth the way he does in his first encounter with Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs).

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Written by Kevin Renick Friday, 13 April 2007 03:26

This is a disturbing, courageous documentary that deserves to be seen by everyone who's not a millionaire—i.e., most of us.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Friday, 13 April 2007 03:20

Unfortunately, director D.J. Caruso chooses to stop just shy of full-blown voyeurism, which might have made for a much better movie.

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Written by Adrienne Jones Friday, 13 April 2007 03:17

I have to give the filmmakers their unfortunate props, though, for seriously undercutting my already low expectations.

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Thursday, 05 April 2007 16:00

Hopefully, the experience of actually seeing Grindhouse will undo or at least help to undo the damage caused by the mainstream press regarding what it means to be a grindhouse movie. Just make your best effort to see it at the sleaziest, most criminal-ridden cinema that you can, and bring a weapon to go after the theatre management with in case one of the reels goes missing.