Seems Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier has done it again. The controversial director of such films as "The Idiots" (which centers on a group that pretends to be developmentally disabled) and "Dancing in the Dark" (a musical about the death penalty), made some fairly stupid…
If you're a movie fan -- and if you weren't, why would you be reading this? -- you know that the big opening tomorrow is the fourth installment in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. Not sure about you, but I thought the series peaked…
Two things came to mind after I watched "Everything Must Go," first-time screenwriter/director Dan Rush's adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story "Why Don't You Dance?" One was that Carver is incredibly hard to translate into film. No one, not even Robert Altman, has done it…
Those of us who grew up during the Cold War remember such things as: --Hiding under our desks to protect ourselves against nuclear attack; --Back-yard bomb shelters (though I never knew anyone who had one); --Geiger counters, which were important to measure radiation levels; --Nikita…
Some filmmakers have names that cause you automatically to get excited. One of those names for me is Herzog. As in the German filmmaker Werner Herzog. No other filmmaker I can name goes back and forth between narrative and documentary film as easily as Herzog…
Just received a note from Jonathan Abrahamson at the Magic Lantern regarding a special event that will be held at the theater on Friday, May 27. And here it is: "Hey guys, I hope this message finds you well and you had a nice weekend.…
I wrote below about a double grindhouse-type feature that I and a couple of other guys enjoyed at my friend Dan Fratini's house. The films were Robert Rodriguez's "Machete," starring Danny Trejo, and the improbably titled "Hobo With a Shotgun." And so what film do…
If you've seen either of the "Night at the Museum" movies -- and really, who hasn't seen at least one of them? -- then you'd be surprised at how much the actual American Museum of Natural History is like the movie version. Of course, we…
I have seen the tuture of cinema, and it is cold. And windy. The film I'm referring to is an adapted, abbreviated, 3-D version of "Blue Planet" that's playing at the 4-D theater the New York City's Central Park Zoo. Subtitled "Ice Worlds," the short…
When I saw the trailer for the new version of "Jane Eyre," i was certain I knew what the producers were up to: They were trying to take advantage of the ongoing fascination with vampires to attract a new audience to an old story. But…
Thanks to my pal Dan Fratini, last night I had a guilty-pleasure evening full of Cuban food (a chorizo polenta dish), some decent wine and a double feature that only the depraved would love: back-to-back showings of "Machete" and the improbably titled "Hobo With a…
My brother-in-law Steve, one of my favortie people ever, commented on my blog post below re. Terrence Malick's forthcoming film "The Tree of Life." I started to respond, then decided to make my response a separate post entirely. Steve had said that he'd loved Malick's…
People used to ask me, "Can't you ever just sit back and enjoy a movie? Do you always have to be a critic?" And I would always answer, "Critiquing a film IS my way of enjoying it." I say that as a means of addressing…
Sooner or later, someone is going to direct the first great film of the 21st century. A film that captures the human condition in all its pain and glory, all ithe ordinary and the magnificent. Nothing, so far, has come close. Yet based on the…
Looking for a disconnect between critics and mainstream audiences? Go no further than "Water for Elephants." According to Rotten Tomatoes, what it calls top critics rated the Francis Lawrence movie at 44 percent -- hardly a diamond rating but nowhere near the worst (based on…
Only the most close-minded movie fans would refuse to admit that Tom Cruise, he of the ready grin, has pulled off some fairly decent performances. “Taps,” for example.” Certainly “Risky Business.” Maybe even “Rain Man.” And definitely “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Magnolia.”…
It's still raining as I type this, giving credence to the notion that we skipped spring and summer and sent straight to fall. But inside a movie theater, it's always the same temperature -- more or less. Which is fine for moviegoers, especially those who…
So, it's a beautiful Easter Sunday, even if the sun does seem to have disappeared behind a cloud. I can't think of a better time to ... stay at home and watch "Jurassic Park" on TNTHD. Some films never get old.
In a book group that I’ve been a part of for the past several years, the term post-modern comes up on occasion. As in … huh? But the other members seem far smarter than I – or at least they fake it better. They act…
It;s not often that you find movie commentaries that combine criticism with English grammar. But here is one. Gotta love it, even given its picky points.
Re. my post immediately below, I have to make one particular point: In casting his film, which is an adaptation of the great Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic "Seven Samurai," American director John Sturges did many things right. But casting is at the top of the…
With one of my favorite films and inarguably one of the best Westerns ever made, playing on the television -- and I'm speaking, of course, of "The Magnificent Seven" -- I'm looking forward to a weekend of moviegoing. Well, somewhat. I'll go and see "Water…
I make the point in a post below that Hollywood repackages things in ways that they think -- or they want US to think -- is original. Sometimes, though, the repackaging comes in a way that reflects a change in societal mores. I wrote as…
Looks as if all the big Hollywood money is attempting to lure us to "Scream 4," the very concept of which causes me to grimace. I mean, really, how many times can they beat that dead horse. The second entry in the series deconstructed the…
I was looking forward to the comedy "Your Highness," even if I did meet an acquaintance outside the theater who advised me to skip it. Uh, no, I thought. And while I enjoyed the film far better than I was led to believe, I still…
