Not Coming to a Theater Near You

---

Don’t Look Now / UK / Italy / 1973

Full review.

Don’t Look Now is that rarest of beasts: a beautiful, deeply profound horror film. Though the horror genre has been hybridized with virtually every other type of film imaginable, it almost never comprises both the grotesque and the exquisite in a single film, and certainly not to the degree of Roeg’s film. Its success in this regard is no doubt attributable to the gothicism of DuMaurier’s material and to the aspic-preserved labyrinth of Venice. But it’s also thanks to Roeg and Tony Richmond’s rich, dark cinematography, with its warped, wide-angle lensing, its ghostly tracks, and its unsettling, exuberant moments of handheld camerawork; to Graeme Clifford’s intensely erratic montage, matching cuts, overlapping dialogue, and mashing-up image upon image; and two highly idiosyncratic, but affecting performances.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Paramount DVD
31 Oct 2006 1:41 PM | Comments (1)

---

Little Children / USA / 2006

Had the director gotten rid of the absurdly superfluous voice-over, this movie might have been somewhat watchable, but as it is, the film reeks of smug condescension and boasts a dreadful ending that encourages viewers to feel sympathy for the local sex offender while simultaneously cheering on the fact that he, um, won’t be striking again.

Full review

by Beth Gilligan | Source: New Line 35mm print
30 Oct 2006 1:30 PM | Comments (1)

---

Running with Scissors / USA / 2006

A film that succeeds almost soley (and barely) on character and performance, Ryan Murphy’s Running with Scissors is nonetheless dark and entertaining—as entertaining as a movie about mental illness and pedophilia can be, that is. And while Annette Bening has recieved the most praise as Augusten Burrough’s troubled mother (analyzing her psychosis is a task in itself), this film belongs to Jill Clayburgh. As Agnes Finch, she radiates compassion, longing, and kindness, and together, her scenes with Augusten permeate through the otherwise chaotic storyline.

by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
29 Oct 2006 12:08 PM | Submit Comment

---

The Prestige / USA/UK / 2006

Though I’m not completely convinced that Christopher Nolan is a great filmmaker, I am confident that he’s a great storyteller.

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Newmarket Films 35mm Print
25 Oct 2006 11:00 PM | Comments (2)

---

Dumbland / USA / 2002

If the feature-film business ever bottoms out for David Lynch, he has a fine career ahead of him making cartoons for The New Yorker — provided that the editors of that periodically venerable periodical would consent to allowing their urbane readership to be tormented by Lynch’s vile, aggressive, hilariously disturbed Dumblanders.

The series — originally aired on Lynch’s website — comprises eight episodes of black-and-white line-drawn animation. The style is extremely minimal, but somehow thoroughly in line with Lynch’s cinematic style, featuring plenty of sudden violence, banal suburbia, and very frightening living rooms, all accompanied by the constant, maddening hum of traffic, chatter, TV sounds, and neanderthal mouth-breathing. The go-to critical comparison would be something like “Dr. Katz on acid,” though I would say that ketamine is more likely.

All this said, and a DL.com price-tag of $28 notwithstanding, it’s amazing how much Lynch is able to wring from all this. Through inference alone, one can see parallels with his major films and with a host of external sources, like sitcoms (there’s a good, weird variation on Home Improvement in the first episode) and even the photography of Uta Barth (especially her … and of time series, which you can sample here and here). Best of all, it serves as a nice companion to the more foul-mouthed and white-trash parts of Inland Empire.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: DavidLynch.com DVD
24 Oct 2006 3:34 PM | Submit Comment

---

Art School Confidential / USA / 2006

Terry Zwigoff’s Art School Confidential is populated with clichés in the interest of displaying a confident self-awareness. But this is easy; clichés are facile components that can be in service to narrative, but aren’t here. They’re just pawns in a stalemate, a group of students meant to qualify this depiction of an art school because they demonstrate the varying personalities it attracts. Having been to art school, this is totally familiar to me, and there’s a hint that Zwigoff is employing a familiar argument in art: that persona often overshadows work.

In Art School Confidential, one freshman has two paramount concerns that become manifested in his work: to be the greatest artist of the 21st century, and to lose his virginity. His aspiration becomes overwhelming, so much so that he is inevitably dissatisfied with the reception of his work as well as his ability to coerce the opposite sex into his dorm room. He transforms, his dissatisfaction replacing what aspirations he has left—drinking liquor straight from the bottle and smoking cigarettes, he’s a nascent model of his role model: a former graduate of the same program he’s in, who’s jobless and filthy, and whose sole merit is an apartment with rent control. (In the hands of Jim Broadbent, this character is responsible for the film’s best scenes.) This transformation is best relayed in my description, as Max Minghella — the aforementioned freshmen — is totally inadequate in communicating any internalized hostility and apathy because he’s too kempt. Every time he smokes a cigarette it looks like it’s the first time he’s ever smoked one, and he just looks funny — instead of pitiful — by himself at a bar with a pair of shots in front of him. And it doesn’t look like he can grow a beard—a must in relaying internalized hostility.

Related: Ghost World

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Sony Pictures Classics DVD
24 Oct 2006 11:29 AM | Submit Comment

---

Aguirre: The Wrath of God / Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes / West Germany / Peru / 1972

Full Review

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: New Yorker Films 35mm Print
23 Oct 2006 1:38 PM | Submit Comment

---

The Hills Have Eyes / USA / 1977

Craven’s second feature follows closely the structure established by his first, in which an extreme, brutal, and largely unmotivated trauma is perpetrated and later avenged with a similar amount of brutality. Craven’s purposive single-mindedness is driven home by the abrupt ending, and the result is both satisfying and unnerving. But it remains unclear to me exactly how cognizant Craven is of the ironies of the film, as the climax is littered with a lot of MacGuyver-ish heroics, funky music, and a particularly valiant canine. These deaden the preceding events of the film somewhat, and one wonders if the jarring, mid-stabbing final shot is simply a way of avoiding having to shoot the protagonists riding victoriously into the sunset.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD
23 Oct 2006 1:35 PM | Submit Comment

---

Brick / USA / 2005

Brick is an exceptionally written film — imagine the audio from a 1940s Noir lifted and reused with no deterioration — and it’s a competently shot one, even if a tad over-edited. But the visual and aural elements don’t cohere seamlessly, which makes for a somewhat disorienting experience; it’s the final shot of The Breakfast Club scored in the pulpiest pulpy dialogue—it shouldn’t meld, but the recipe makes for something you’ve not had before.

Beth’s thoughts | Jit’s thoughts | Tom’s thoughts

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Focus Features DVD
23 Oct 2006 11:13 AM | Submit Comment

---

The Host / Gwoemul / Japan / South Korea / 2006

There’s a wonderful, if insubstantial, subplot in The Host that entails the government’s manipulation of Korean citizens via fear. A mutated, amphibious behemoth leaps out of the Han River in a rampage, killing some and injuring many. The administration is alerted, and they perceive it as an opportunity, deeming the monster’s contact to transfer a deadly virus so that people remain afraid. This action is overshadowed by the finale, forgivably, but The Host endures not only as a fabulous monster movie, but a creative polemic that can surely enamor those waiting out Bush’s second term.

Full review

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Magnolia Pictures 35MM print
23 Oct 2006 11:09 AM | Submit Comment

---

Sólo con tu pareja / Mexico / 1991

Including some of his and his brother’s short films, Sólo con tu pareja is the fifth Alfonso Cuarón film I’ve seen, each of them a telling of some slapstick sexual escapade (nope, I’ve not seen his Harry Potter film). With the exception of Y tu mamá también — an absolute masterpiece — each of these films has employed the same scenario with sparing variation: infidelity, homosexuality, or AIDS played for laughs in one or the other. It’s a competently entertaining farce, but its merits lie in the later work of Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: The Criterion Collection DVD
23 Oct 2006 11:05 AM | Comments (1)

---

Marie Antoinette / USA / 2006

One of the perks of living in a college town is that, occasionally, film distributors send their newest critical punching bag in the hopes of building a solid following from the ground up. Hence the “special screening” of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, which recieved a public thrashing at Cannes. With “coupons” available through radio stations and a small table on campus (one which I conveniently passed day after day, oblivious to the massive amounts of glitzy posters, until about 6PM yesterday), it seemed like a great way to commence my four-day weekend.

While the film begins promisingly enough, with our heroine the innocent and seemingly unwilling participant in an arranged marriage—one meant to calm tensions between France and Austria—Marie Antoinette suffers from the titular character’s own life. We sympathize with her as she becomes the object of ridicule, especially as she reluctantly goes without child, but as her extravagance grows our empathy fades. The last hour, in which she basks hedonistically in sex, drugs, and cake, doesn’t hold our attention like the first hour does. What’s so interesting about watching spoiled people be miserable? Why should I care when the French population arrives at her doorstep, torches and pitchforks in hand? Despite the incredible costumes and sets, the expert staging and cinematography, and some great comedic relief from Shirley Henderson and Molly Shannon as two crotchety aunts (they almost steal the movie from Kirsten Dunst, which is probably why they’re banished halfway through), Marie Antoinette falls flat. Beautifully, disappointingly flat.

Jenny’s Review

by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
20 Oct 2006 1:18 AM | Submit Comment

---

Lighten Up / USA / 2005

Another short, this time from the US. Moustachioed trailer- type Bo is driving his buddy to the hospital, for mysterious reasons. It eventually transpires that the friend has suffered complications after sticking a lightbulb up his backside, a fetish that, he insists, has changed his life for the better and allowed him to become the man he always wanted to be. The film is little more than an extended comedy skit, but it’s sharply observed and really, really funny. The characters are acutely sketched and immediately recognisable. After a series of rather dour efforts, Lighten Up brought the house down.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
19 Oct 2006 9:50 AM | Submit Comment

---

Heavy Metal Drummer / Morocco/ UK / 2005

I caught a brace of short films as part of a London Film Festival screening- most were unremarkable, but two stood out from the pack, each one worthy of note.

Heavy Metal Drummer is a brief glimpse into the life of a Moroccan teenage metal fan, trapped in a lifeless jazz band, listening to Iron Maiden and dreaming of really letting rip. It’s beautifully shot, with a glorious lightness of touch, packing more into five minutes that most feature films manage in 90. The final scene- where the drummer loses it at a wedding party and treats the guests to an impromptu freakout solo- is hilarious and cathartic.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
19 Oct 2006 9:49 AM | Submit Comment

---

Click / USA / 2006

A few weeks ago in my note on Happy Gilmore I lamented the fact that Sandler’s films too often stop short of greatness thanks to a lack of ambition, and lazy scripting. Click is a perfect case in point- it’s entertaining enough, but never fully explores the literally limitless potential in the concept. Christopher Walken steals the show effortlessly, getting all the best moves and most of the funniest lines. And the film is surprisingly emotional- the third act moves into dark and tragic territory, with moderate success. But none of this can distract from the fact that it just isn’t funny enough.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
19 Oct 2006 9:47 AM | Submit Comment

---

Poseidon / USA / 2006

Despite a few moments of clammy tension, this fails to improve on the 70’s original. The cast is well chosen, but their characters are little more than cardboard cutouts with standard disaster movie traits- tough guy, protective mother, scared kid etc. It all looks good, and the scene in the air vent is outstanding, but it never really comes together.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
19 Oct 2006 9:45 AM | Submit Comment

---

Dracula / Bram Stoker’s Dracula / USA / 1992

Calling this Bram Stoker’s Dracula is like calling She’s the Man William Shakespeare’s. Some redeeming qualities (Gary Oldman, for one), but mostly indulgent crap.

by Adam Balz | Source: VHS
18 Oct 2006 10:39 PM | Submit Comment

---

Kissed / Canada / 1996

Kissed shares a particular interest in female sexuality with The Rapture, and in both women are given inordinately perverse outlets for sexual liberation. But in neither do women remain liberated: The Rapture’s Sharon renounces her lifestyle as a swinger in favor of a more fulfilling one as a Christian, and in result her husband and child are killed; in Kissed Sandra’s only – and first – living boyfriend (I should note here that she’s a necrophiliac, and by the time she is courted by a member of the opposite sex she has been with several corpses) can not supply her with the ecstasy she achieves in a preparatory room of a funeral home (or the back of a hearse, etc.). He kills himself, a selfless sacrifice to satisfy his lover in the only way he’s able to. Although death is permanent, the pleasure it gives Sandra is temporary because flesh deteriorates. Her boyfriend was inadequate during his life, but the pleasure he gives her in his death will fade at the rate of her memory.

Jenny’s review

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: MGM DVD
18 Oct 2006 10:32 AM | Submit Comment

---

The Pit / Canada / 1981

Chalk up another hour and a half of my life to watching a horror movie about an evil teddy bear and the creepy kid who loves him.

Full review.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Embassy Home Entertainment VHS
17 Oct 2006 10:19 PM | Submit Comment

---

Airplane II: The Sequel / USA / 1982

Ted, I have the strangest feeling we’ve been through this exact same thing before.

Attempting to recreate the glories of Airplane!, writer/director Ken Finkleman lifts nearly everything from the original and puts it in space. And although the jokes don’t tickle the ribs quite as much, and the services of Nielsen and Stack (and Abdul-Jabbar) are greatly missed, with Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Julie Hagerty, and Robert Hays reprising their timeless roles (and William Shatner offering his incomparable services), it’s hard not to be won over by the moronic joys of this note-for-note sequel. After all,

We’re not living in the past, or the present, anymore. This is the future.

Tom’s thoughts

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Paramount Home Video VHS
16 Oct 2006 7:51 PM | Submit Comment

---

Endless Descent / The Rift / La Grieta / Spain / USA / 1989

“You Can’t Hold Your Breath and Scream at the Same Time”

Breakneck low-budget Alien—Abyss imitation pits a gaggle of inept sailors against a subterranean cavern rife with the deviant offspring of a DNA-splicing experiment gone wrong. Who’s to blame for such ill-conceived nature meddling? Why the U.S. government of course. Realizing their imprudence, the feds send a loose cannon submarine designer and a hard-nosed Navy captain down with a hapless NATO crew in hopes of quashing the burgeoning power of the mutant horde.

Designating only a modicum of screen time to character development and back-story, Descent throws us right into the middle of the fracas—we learn of the disappearance of the submarine Siren I, meet Wick the designer, and board the Siren II for the unfathomable depths. Soon enough, the cavern is found, the bloodthirsty fish-insect-amphibian abominations are discovered, and the firefight for survival begins.

The catastrophic implications of humanity’s arrogance are hinted at, as are the ethical implications of DNA fiddling. But thankfully, Descent avoids any of Cameron’s annoying humanity-is-bad proselytizing and lets this story go where it wants to—fanged aqua-beasts munching limbs, and evil undersea plants toxically devouring the unwary. Such rapid pacing, coupled with impressive-for-the budget special effects and a creative horror setting, keeps the film from faltering, and elevates Descent beyond forgettable rip-off into the realm of impressive homage.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Live Home Video VHS
16 Oct 2006 7:04 PM | Submit Comment

---

Wolf Creek / Australia / 2005

Thoughts here.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Starz
16 Oct 2006 11:20 AM | Submit Comment

---

The White Diamond / UK / Germany / 2004

As strongly as I lauded Herzog’s other 2005 documentary, The White Diamond is undoubtedly the better film. Grizzly Man’s Timothy Treadwell is the madder madman, and Graham Dorrington — the designer of the titular airship — isn’t as ill-fated as Herzog’s others. But this is to compare The White Diamond to Herzog’s fictional protagonists, which under-services this film as it more clearly embodies Herzog’s lifelong search for ecstatic truth, one more poetically embodied in his nonfiction films.

Dorrington’s airship is made to explore the canopy of the South American rainforest (the setting obviously recalls that of Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo, so perhaps a comparison to those films is necessary). After some testing and a near disastrous trial run, it’s in fine working order, and it’s here where the film begins to stray in a few different directions (it even includes a dance sequence; no, really), maintaining (one of) its central theme(s) of man’s futility to fully control nature. Dorrington and co. set up camp near the Kaieteur Falls, and intermittently Herzog follows one of the crew to observe it. Each evening, it seems, an enormous flock of Swifts dart into a cave behind the waterfall—it is an extraordinary image that is captured in the film’s final shot. The locals scoff at the attempt of one of Dorrington’s crew to belay down toward the crevasse, in an effort to film its interior. In respect, Herzog opts not to show the footage, nature remaining free of man’s exploitation.

Jit’s thoughts

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Wellspring DVD
16 Oct 2006 10:44 AM | Comments (1)

---

The Departed / USA / 2006

It’s amazing that Scorsese can return to the gangster genre, using much the same structure, style, and even pop songs that he has in previous films, and come up with something so energetic, involving, witty, and distinctive as this. Presumably this has a lot to do with the strength of the script (even if it doesn’t fully cohere at the end), and not a little to do with the performances. I can think of few recent films as well cast as this: neither DiCaprio nor Damon has handled a character this well in years, if ever; other actors like Nicholson, Wahlberg, and Baldwin are allowed to chew scenery in hilarious, but judiciously meted out doses.

Jit’s thoughts | Rumsey’s thoughts | Beth’s thoughts

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Warner Brothers 35mm Print
15 Oct 2006 5:08 PM | Comments (1)

---

The Queen / UK/France/Italy / 2006

Forgiving Stephen Frears for the overdone symbolism of the stag, I can honestly say this was a refreshing, if not bewildering film. (A friend of mine used the word “campy.”) The humor is surprising—a joke about the Queen greasing Diana’s breaks, for one—but consistent. And while the complicated nature of each character makes them both unlikable and engrossing, I would’ve liked to have seen more from James Cromwell—he groans and scowls but never allows us inside Prince Philip.

Oh, and did I mention Helen Mirren?

by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
14 Oct 2006 11:42 PM | Submit Comment

---

The Last King of Scotland / UK / 2006

Fully unraveling Forest Whitaker’s performance requires a lot of time and multiple viewings, not to mention an unshakable constitution. It’s an astounding turn for an actor I knew only as “that guy” from films like Phone Booth and Panic Room. (For now, we’ll pretend Battlefield Earth never happened—a bad dream, of sorts.) The second-by-second changes in temperament—from paranoia to elation, sadness to unshakable confidence, congeniality to downright viciousness—leave you struggling for air. Without a doubt, Whitaker is this movie.

A few weeks ago, I had the misfortune of watching an episode of Ebert and Roeper in which Kevin Smith, substituting for the now healthy Ebert, made the observation that Whitaker was assured the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Interesting notion, since Macdonald’s film concentrates more on McAvoy’s Nicholas Garrigan than Whitaker’s Amin, yet ultimately misguided. There is little doubt that Whitaker is the star of the film, a guaranteed Best Actor nominee whose lesser screen time means absolutely nothing. (Think Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs.) The only obstacle in his way is a gray-haired gent named Peter O’Toole, who’s getting rave reviews for his performance in Venus.

by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
14 Oct 2006 11:36 PM | Comments (9)

---

Bobby / USA / 2006

This is what happens when movies like Crash win the Best Picture Oscar.

by Beth Gilligan | Source: DVD screener
14 Oct 2006 12:30 PM | Comments (1)

---

The Science of Sleep / La Science des Rêves / France / 2006

At times Gondry’s film is astounding and splendid (especially when we are submerged in marvellously imaginative images), while at other moments it’s utterly baffling and somewhat exasperating… which is all pretty much appropriate considering he’s concentrating on the delirious state in between dreams and reality.

Considering all the offensive stuff he’s spouting towards Stéphanie, was anyone else wondering if Stéphane was actually in one of his peculiar dream-states during the final confrontation he has with Stéphanie in her apartment? Gael García Bernal’s mannerisms and behavior are so odd at that point that even though it appears that he’s apparently simply attempting to offend her in order to achieve some detestable form of closure within their relationship, I started to wonder if his trippy dialogue and short attention span were both a function of his altered state of reality – as if he’s started dreaming before he climbs into Stéphanie’s bed.

Jenny’s Thoughts

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Warner Independent Pictures 35mm Print
13 Oct 2006 4:14 PM | Comments (1)

---

The Departed / USA / 2006

A great deal of the material and methods that Scorsese is applying in his latest film seem to echo his work on Goodfellas. Having said that, watching Scorsese’s intense brand of vibrant, kinetic, almost strident filmmaking (not to mention Thelma Schoonmaker’s wonderful work), fuming with matters pertaining to masculine aggression and male performance, reminds me why I adore not only Scorsese’s past films (yes, even The Aviator), but also cinema in general. It also reaffirms my indifferent reaction to the original action flick.

However, the disadvantage of such a gruff filmmaking style is that it leaves itself prone to being dismissed as adolescent, making it easy for opponents to ignore its occasional moments of delicate grace and also overlook the film’s condemnation of the juvenile actions it endlessly flaunts. Unfortunately, Scorsese doesn’t really help his cause by including a rather ridiculous final frame, and I’m hoping he’s well aware that his concluding image is actually hilarious mostly because it’s so absurdly blunt. Hopefully he’s laughing with us, though the background of the image seems intended to be far more somber than the actual result.

Regrettably the film is probably doomed to be harshly dismantled in critical circles after further scrutiny, not only because of its status as a remake of a foreign film, but more precisely because it has been met with such immediate praise and will likely receive a moderate amount of additional acclaim as the year concludes. I’m never one to disparage frequent evaluation, but it’s difficult to shake the feeling that such a re-appraisal will probably be tainted by some preconceived notion that success deserves to be eventually accompanied by denunciation and derision disguised as a more objective consideration.

Also, Mark Wahlberg = Awesome.

Rumsey’s Thoughts

Beth’s Thoughts

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Warner Brothers 35mm Print
13 Oct 2006 1:19 PM | Submit Comment

---

Storefront Hitchcock / USA / 1998

Jonathan Demme could make a film about the Insane Clown Posse and I’d end up buying the soundtrack.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Cable TV
13 Oct 2006 10:27 AM | Submit Comment

---

passage à l’acte / Austria / 1993

Here’s what I said last time I watched it. On this viewing, it strikes me that the rhythms are not merely toe-tapping, but downright funky.

“C’mon c’mon c’mon c’mon!” “I’m try-try-try-tryin’ to!”

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Re:Voir VHS
12 Oct 2006 2:30 PM | Submit Comment

---

pièce touchée / Austria / 1989

A brilliant, kaleidoscopic short work from the Viennese post-post-structuralist Martin Arnold. The film takes a single, innocuous shot from an old Hollywood film (any ideas what film it is?) — a man enters a room where a woman sits reading in an armchair; they chat and then walk across the room together — and relentlessly manipulates each frame until each tiny movement of the actors and the camera becomes weighted with significance. Arnold expands the boundaries of this basic form in his subsequent work (adding sound and broadening the scope to entire films, not just scenes), but this is a beautifully concise expression of a deconstructive mania that fully exploits all of the minute, incidental concordances and artificial peculiarities in each frame.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Re:Voir VHS
12 Oct 2006 2:25 PM | Comments (2)

---

The Spirit of the Beehive / El Espíritu de la colmena / Spain / 1973

Full review.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: The Criterion Collection DVD
11 Oct 2006 10:31 AM | Submit Comment

---

Death Of A President / UK / 2006

This year’s cinematic bete noire, Death Of A President makes for entertaining but increasingly frustrating viewing. It’s an intriguing setup, examining the potential fallout from a successful assassination attempt on George W. Bush, combining stock footage with fake interviews to create an alternate future- history. The first half of the film fulfils expectations, examining in detail the events surrounding the titular event, using familiar images of mass protests and secret service motorcades to conjure a convincing environment for the act to take place. Tension is skilfully maintained, and by the fateful ropeline walk we’re on the edge of our seats. Then the shot, and the rush to the hospital, and the film starts to fall apart.

Instead of focussing on the political or sociological fallout from this cataclysmic event, the film turns into a crude sort of whodunnit, implicating first a protester then a local Syrian man, before finally unveiling the real killer. The vast potential inherent in the story is ignored- Dick Cheney becomes President, but his effect on the world remains largely unexplored, aside from a few rather weak allusions to a new Patriot Act. There are no scenes of mass mourning, racial revenge, the American military backlash that would inevitably follow such an event. There’s not even any attempt to examine how the current international situation would be affected, or the American national psyche.

And the filmmakers have no excuse- such events could easily have been evoked through the use of faked stock footage. This is a failure of imagination and conviction, perhaps even of intellect. There’s no other explanation for the sheer lack of ambition on display here. The intrinsic offensiveness of the premise- staging the death of any living person without their consent is pretty dubious, whoever your subject- could have been mitigated if the film was a genuine, thoughtful work of art, or even just a well crafted thriller. But this is neither, and in the event the whole thing feels rather childish. A wasted opportunity.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: More4
10 Oct 2006 11:27 AM | Comments (1)

---

The Da Vinci Code / USA / 2006

“I have to get to a library, fast!” Naively, I thought that there was a chance this might work, the pure thriller elements of the story taking flight when divorced from Dan Brown’s grim, pedestrian prose. No such luck. This is yawn inducing dreck, utterly faceless, the paper thin characters spouting tired absurdities to one another in between bouts of horrendously staged violence. It’s also brutally cynical- the only reason anyone could possibly take this job is for the guaranteed hefty paycheck. I expect such behaviour from Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, but Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina and especially Ian McKellen should know better. It’s possible that a decent movie could have been salvaged here, perhaps by throwing out most of the book and starting from scratch. But slavish adaptations are all the rage nowadays (thanks again, Peter Jackson and Harry Potter), so we have to endure every tedious plot twist, every ponderous line of dialogue, every insult to an audience’s intelligence.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
10 Oct 2006 11:25 AM | Comments (1)

---

The Hard Way / USA / 1991

Director John Badham came up the old fashioned way, paying his dues with a decade behind the camera on a variety of TV dramas and cop shows. And the past few years seem to have signalled a return home- his last theatrical feature was the bizarre and largely forgotten Paul Hogan vehicle Floating Away, since then it’s been TV movies all the way, this hard grafting one time A-lister put out to pasture. Which is a shame, because Badham’s career as director yielded one genuine classic- Saturday Night Fever- and a fistful of enjoyable, fairly low rent gems: WarGames, Short Circuit, Stakeout and this, a thoroughly entertaining comedy thriller from the days when such things seemed ten a penny.

The script is smart and the action, while overblown, is pretty riveting. But, as is often the case with these mid- budget Hollywood efforts, it’s the casting that seals the deal. James Woods displays surprising comic timing, Michael J. Fox mugs shamelessly but somehow manages to remain loveable. Annabella Sciorra, Delroy Lindo and Luis Guzman provide dependable support (has Guzman actually aged at all in the past two decades?), and we get early sightings of Christina Ricci and, of course, Ladies Love Cool James hamming it up gleefully in his first Hollywood role. The baddy is a letdown- Stephen Lang overacts wildly as the forgettable Party Crasher- but there’s so much going on that it hardly seems to matter.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: ITV4
10 Oct 2006 11:23 AM | Comments (1)

---

The Departed / USA / 2006

Between this and I Heart Huckabees, Mark Wahlberg is well on his way to becoming one of my favorite comic actors. I was also glad to see that Scorsese has re-learned how to sustain a narrative, and that Leonardo DiCaprio is capable of turning in a performance that is more than a series of scowls (cf. Gangs of New York). Definitely deserving of the praise that’s been heaped upon it.

by Beth Gilligan | Source: Warner Bros 35mm print
10 Oct 2006 11:10 AM | Comments (2)

---

The Departed / USA / 2006

How wondrous it is to find Scorsese in familiar form, free from the constraints of historical authenticity that seemed to mire his previous two films. (I should note that I thought Bringing Out the Dead was excellent, so I don’t consider this his best film in a decade.) But, as many others have noted, this is more akin to his Cape Fear than Goodfellas, an updating of an already tested screenplay with Scorsesean panache. I also don’t think The Departed will hold up to scrutiny, as details crucial to its outcome are introduced fleetingly (specifically, Nicholson’s Frank Costello recording every conversation he has). But The Departed is rooted firmly in Scorsese’s canon, and Mark Wahlberg’s expletive-touting bad cop is as hilariously, mindlessly hostile a character as Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Warner Bros. 35mm print
10 Oct 2006 10:26 AM | Submit Comment

---

Frenzy / UK / 1972

Hitchcock is no stranger to exploitation, but Frenzy is much less sophisticated and nuanced than his previous forays in to the genre. It’s also much dirtier; at least, I can’t recall another Hitchcock in which I’ve seen a nipple.

Ian’s thoughts | Leo’s thoughts | Jit’s thoughts

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Universal Pictures DVD
10 Oct 2006 10:05 AM | Submit Comment

---

The Trouble with Harry / USA / 1955

Thoughts here.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Universal Pictures DVD
10 Oct 2006 9:59 AM | Submit Comment

---

The Best of Everything / USA / 1959

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

by Beth Gilligan | Source: Fox DVD
09 Oct 2006 11:07 AM | Submit Comment

---

Purple Noon / Plein soleil / France / 1960

The young Alain Delon is the centre of fascination here, his cold blue eyes and smooth pretty face giving us a far less sympathetic Tom Ripley than Matt Damon’s. Delon’s beauty is completely in tune with the callousness of his crimes and the sun-drenched blue of the sea (which Clement’s film dwells on far more than Minghella’s). It’s just a pity that the mores of the time couldn’t follow through the implications of the story and allow Tom to get away with it all — the rushed last minute sudden-revelation-of-the-crime-bringing-the-police-to-the-scene causes the film to collapse in on itself.

by Ian Johnston | Source: Miramax DVD
08 Oct 2006 10:32 AM | Comments (3)

---

Election / Hak se wui / Hong Kong / 2005

The absence of guns and the low-key realist tone of this Hong Kong triad movie offer something of a novelty, but the whole effect is curiously uninvolving — with the sole exception of the really powerful scene where a young boy sits in the family car knowing his father is out killing Aunty in the woods. Even more curious is the host of awards (best picture etc) that this film picked up in Hong Kong and Taiwan last year. Must have been an off year.

by Ian Johnston | Source: Group Power Workshop DVD
08 Oct 2006 10:19 AM | Comments (11)

---

A Journey to Avebury / UK / 1971

Along with Garden of Luxor and Art of Mirrors, featured on the Kino DVD of Derek Jarman’s The Tempest as part of the director’s early work.

by Adam Balz | Source: Kino DVD
08 Oct 2006 12:03 AM | Submit Comment

---

Blue Velvet / USA / 1986

Full review.

After this, Blue Velvet’s a merry walk in the park, with sharp, defined imagery, a tantalizing mystery plot, and a pleasantly naïve mindset. If Lynch’s current aesthetic shift proves irrevocable, no doubt there will be many who will miss this type of Lynch film. But the director’s subsequent work has so fully and consistently expanded upon the themes of this watershed film, and, with Mulholland Dr., so conclusively buried its wistful innocence, that any nostalgic objections to Lynch’s new directions would be far too late.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Warner Home Video DVD
05 Oct 2006 5:03 PM | Comments (1)

---

Old Joy / USA / 2005

Full review.

Dude-oriented chick flicks don’t get much more bromantic than this, a refreshingly quiet, unambitious portrait of two buddies in the woods that tempers its homoeroticism with a splash of homophobia. But if this aspect is a little too pronounced and gets in the way from more deeply seated issues, the pace and tone of the film is consistently lovely. A slower narrative film hasn’t been made in this country since, well, ever. Or at least since Gallo’s Brown Bunny, but I daresay this movie is more pleasurable to watch.

My only qualm is that the dog was such a small character.

by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Kino DVD screener
05 Oct 2006 4:45 PM | Submit Comment

---

Blood Sucking Nazi Zombies / Oasis of the Zombies / Oasis of the Living Dead / La Tumba de los Muertos Vivientes / Spain / France / 1982

An overlong flashback explicating the particulars of this one-note story transports us to the height of WWII, where we meet a ruthless band of opportunistic German soldiers pilfering heaps of Libyan gold and the doughty British regulars determined to stop them. Ambushing the enemy at a desert oasis, the Brits win the day. But the gold is never found. Legend has it that the Nazi dead, opting to remain forever at the gilded oasis, maintain an unending and unmerciful watch over their ill-gotten treasure—a putrefying regiment rotting for all eternity beneath the African sands.

On the positive side, Blood Sucking Nazi Zombies boasts one of the greatest titles around, swells the ranks of the small but proud subgenre of Nazi-Zombie films, and creatively locates the flesh-devouring fiends in the picturesque North African desert. And the Nazi-zombie horde itself isn’t half-bad either—what with its assemblage of worm-eaten faces and protruding eyeballs; its collective, and unexplained, fear of the sun; and its enviable erupt-from-sand-to-eat-unwary-victim ability.

Sadly, the negative forces at work here—including painfully grainy, at times impenetrably dark, scenes; an insipid, almost nonexistent climax; a dearth of film time devoted to the titular terrors; and inexcusably lackadaisical character development—overwhelm the promising premise and glorious title, and render this a film to be avoided by all but the most passionate zombie devotees.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Taurus Film VHS
03 Oct 2006 9:54 PM | Submit Comment

---

World Trade Center / U.S.A. / 2006

I don’t dispute the horror of the event itself, the terrible experiences that individuals went through, and the individual acts of true heroism that occurred, but here I’m talking about the movie World Trade Center, a slow, dull, ponderous piece, that apart from a couple of moments (especially a one-minute scene with a walk-on character in a hospital) left me surprisingly unmoved. Actually, a little bored. Dramatically, its dramatised-real-life-story nature poses a major problem – the film gets effectively buried in the rubble along with its two protagonists, orand then sits around waiting along with their wives. Nor does it help that its “inspiring message” has to be spelt out in voice-over in true TV movie-of-the-week style. But maybe it’s a relief that this is Oliver Stone in a restrained, modest style. No attempts to stun the audience into submission with fast-paced editing, and no crazy conspiracy theories, too. Except for one big one: why, otherwise, follow up our straitlaced, Christian-fundamentalist Marine hero’s promise to take revenge “out there” (wherever “out there” may be) with an end-title telling us that he served two tours in Iraq, unless Ollie means to buy into the thoroughly discredited Bush administration linkage between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein – the craziest and most dangerous conspiracy theory of all.

by Ian Johnston | Source: 35mm print
02 Oct 2006 3:03 PM | Comments (1)

---

Silent Hill / USA / 2006

Rusted industrial interiors, a hospital strewn in ancient surgical equipment, a classroom coated in a layer of ash: these locations comprise much of Silent Hill, which looks like it has not been touched by a human finger in decades. This environment is probably appropriate to the videogame on which this film is based (which I’ve not played) because you’re inclined to investigate every decrepit corner within. It makes for quite a picturesque film, however, even if you spend its entirety looking over the shoulder of Rose, who, naturally, has lost her child in this ghost town. A departure from Christophe Gans’ prior — and magnificent — Le Pacte des loups, Silent Hill is neither thrilling nor horrific, but its set design and photography is exemplary.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Sony Pictures DVD
02 Oct 2006 2:19 PM | Submit Comment

---

The Last King of Scotland / UK / 2006

Probably more entertaining than a film about a murderous dictator should be, and the plot contrivances do get to be a little much, but the magnetic combination of Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy made me feel like it was worth my while.

by Beth Gilligan | Source: Fox Searchlight 35mm print
02 Oct 2006 12:47 PM | Submit Comment

---

Army of Shadows / L’Armée des ombres / France/Italy / 1969

Full review

by Beth Gilligan | Source: Rialto Pictures 35mm print
02 Oct 2006 12:38 PM | Submit Comment

---

Harlan County, U.S.A. / USA / 1976

A scene late in this film is of a face-off between some union coal-miners and picketing miners, their wives and family. Everyone has a gun pointed at each other. It is as rivetingly suspenseful as anything I have seen in film.

Related: Matewan

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: The Criterion Collection DVD
02 Oct 2006 11:53 AM | Submit Comment

---

9 Songs / UK / 2004

This film reeks of pretension, an exceptional filmmaker’s attempt to reproach the stigma and use of pornography in film. Having now seen 9 Songs, I’m at a loss to explain what it may be — if anything — beneath its provocative surface.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Tartan DVD
02 Oct 2006 11:46 AM | Submit Comment

---

Shock Treatment / USA / 1981

Inevitably, as a follow-up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Shock Treatment pales in comparison to its predecessor. It’s still an excellent film, and it could have possibly been an equal had it a central character even remotely as charismatic (or frightening, etc.) as Tim Curry’s Frank-N-Furter. As-is, it’s a collection of supporting roles.

It’s also fascinating to approach this film considering the unforeseen and enormous niche audience solicited by Rocky Horror that Shock Treatment was certainly meant to nourish. Richard O’Brien’s script endured several iterations, in an early one entailing location shooting in rural Ohio, and ultimately based entirely in a television studio. There is an audience in the film, and their eager participation seems instructive of how you are to be engaged by Shock Treatment. It’s a little prosaic in comparison to Rocky Horror’s wild solicitations.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: Fox DVD
02 Oct 2006 11:38 AM | Submit Comment

---

Children Of Men / USA/UK / 2006

Stepping out of the cinema into Kingsland High Street at rush hour, I wasn’t quite sure if the film had actually ended. This is a grippingly real, OTT vision of London’s dystopian future, perfectly cast and, as always with Cuaron, wonderfully inventive and stylishly directed. It’s a little overblown at times (any hint of religious parable is always accompanied by a blast of heavenly choir) and there are a few unconvincing directional shifts, but this is quite simply the most riveting film of the year. My eyes actually started to hurt from not blinking.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm Print
02 Oct 2006 11:27 AM | Comments (1)

---

Happy Gilmore / USA / 1996

“What? Friends listen to Endless Love in the dark!”

In the UK, Adam Sandler is far from ubiquitous, so it’s easier to get away with being a fan. Punch Drunk Love aside, I think this is my favourite. Too often with Sandler (and a lot of other modern American comedians, from Jack Black to Will Ferrell) you get the feeling if they’d just tried that little bit harder, it could’ve been something truly special. Happy Gilmore is one of the ones that works. It may lack the heart and (relative) intelligence of The Wedding Singer, but it’s just incredibly funny and charming. From Ben Stiller’s Nazi resthome attendant to Christopher McDonald as shit- eating Shooter McGavin, the whole thing’s just an effortless pleasure.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: Channel 4
02 Oct 2006 11:25 AM | Comments (1)

---

Manic / USA / 2001

A surprisingly well grounded look at teenage psychology, with Joseph Gordon- Levitt sent to a psych- ward for violent behaviour and encountering Don Cheadle’s wise counsellor. The potential for learning, growing and group hugging is self evident, but the film manages to dig a lot deeper, avoiding cliché and relying on the brilliantly talented cast to pull it through. Unfairly ignored on release, it’s much more than just Cuckoo’s Nest for kids.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: Metrodome DVD
02 Oct 2006 11:22 AM | Submit Comment

---