February 2013
1 post
September 2012
1 post
The Master
Cult or not, the fact of the matter comes down to this: the true Master in any sense is Paul Thomas Anderson, the visionary director of such films as There Will Be Blood (one I consider to be among the best films ever made) and Boogie Nights, among many others. Anderson’s latest venture, The Master, is a glowing, enthralling, and visceral example of the amazing things that happen when there is a...
July 2012
3 posts
January 2012
2 posts
Best Movie Posters of 2011 →
December 2011
2 posts
Slew of Reviews
Beginners is a charming film, and so quirky, it almost out-quirks itself. Trying to be the ideal “indie” film, it essntially loses it’s sight along the way, but it has some really fantastic attributes to it. One, or shall I say three, are the leading performances. Ewan McGregor and Melanie Laurent as the two love-birds in this low-key RomCom are both great, McGregor playing his usual best and...
The Muppets
The gang is back! And thank God for that!
As I walked into the theatre I got such a sense of enormous joy and excitement to see what the Muppets can bring, after a nearly ten year absence from pop culture altogether. They’ve always been there, distilled in numerous films, television shows, and random videos but never were given the chance for a true comeback. I was extremely happy to find...
October 2011
4 posts
The Ides Of March
George Clooney’s newest film The Ides of March is anything but safe. This tale of a young Junior Campaign Manager, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) who is working on winning his candidate, Mike Morris (George Clooney), the Demoicratic primary in Ohio to become the Democratic nominee in a modern-times election. With this battle comes private battles of their own. The angst between Meyers and...
The Trip
What a winning combination can be found in Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in Michael Winterbottom’s comedy The Trip. Utilizing every inch of British humor that they can, Coogan and Brydon take the witty script even further, making real characters out of themselves and playing it straight, whether it’s hilarious or a little heartbreaking.
Set up as a mockumentary, Steve Coogan...
Meek's Cutoff
Meek’s Cutoff, the 2011 Western by Kelly Reichardt, is a film all about chances. What will chances bring? What chance are you willing to take to survive, to live, what path is the correct path? Essentially, it could be looked at as a metaphoric film, but, luckily, there is so much more there underneath.
Michelle Williams plays Emily Tetherow, a purebred settler, bonnet and all, heading...
50/50: Chance Worth Taking
Jonathan Levine’s new dramedy 50/50 hits all the right notes. It takes the most essential of the human heartbreak and turns it into something real, emotional, and, surprisingly, hilarious.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Adam, a young man stuck in a flux between his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) and his nagging, desperate mother (Anjelica Huston). Matters only get worse, naturally, when...
September 2011
3 posts
Contagion: Art of Disaster
I have rarely been as scared at a film than I was in Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion. That’s not to say it was a horror movie, but it will seep into your conscience like a disease, and for what it’s worth, it really does it’s job well.
The entire pandemic of fear comes after a mom (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes home from a trip to Japan and begins the spread of a terrifying...
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/154423-A-9-11-... →
Ready to Be Loved from EDGES →
August 2011
17 posts
Hobo With A Shotgun: A Horror, Alright
What do you expect from a movie called Hobo With a Shotgun? While it’s campy violence certainly makes for some huge laughs, it’s sadistic tone tends to be too much for me.
Rutger Hauer is devouring his role (though with perfect teeth, no doubt). It’s literally hell on Earth, and the only person out there to stop them is Superman the hobo with a shotgun. The film certainly gives...
13 Assassins: HOLY SHIT!
It should just be said right now that there is a 40 minute long action sequence that closes Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins, and if you can just sit through the film for that alone, it’s totally worth it. Luckily, there are still more reasons than just that to catch this samurai epic.
The whole film is greatly directed; the action sequences are both comprehensible and thrilling and the...
Manhattan Murder Mystery: It Was Fun While It...
Manhattan Murder Mystery may not be Woody Allen’s most enduring work, but it sure is a good romp. He combines his classic cinematic style and combines it into another genre with suspense, and reunites with his classic acting partner Diane Keaton. The chemistry is still there, and if only Allen had balanced his mystery-comedy with either more character or more comedy, but sadly, neither of...
Manhattan: Rhapsody in Delight
From the very beginning of George Gershwin’s dazzling “Rhapsody in Blue” at the start of Woody Allen’s 1979 film Manhattan, you can feel the genuine nature of the passion of this film, and the artistry to boot. It will suffice to say, it’s undoubtedly one of Woody Allen’s masterpieces.
Allen plays a twice-divorced New Yorker, Isaac, on the brink of a mid-life...
The Beaver: Art Imitates Life Imitates Art
The fact that Jodie Foster was brave enough to tackle on such a unique and risky screenplay as The Beaver should be applauded all on its own. The fact that she cast Mel Gibson in the main role was just plain smart.
The Beaver is a film about a toy executive named Walter (Gibson), who, despite his work with all things fun, is severely depressed, and has no idea of what his life has become. His...
Cars 2: Out the Heart, In the Fun
Cars 2 may be one of Pixar’s weakest, but that’s certainly the biggest weakness of them all.
In the latest installment, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is getting ready for a worldwide competition, the World Grand Prix, and takes his old pal Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) with him to the opening race. A turn of events gets Mater caught up in a secret spy mission, led by Finn McMissile...
Winnie The Pooh: Lighthearted Classic
AWWW! That’s the main thing that will be running through head as you watch the latest Disney animated film, Winnie the Pooh. At just over an hour run time, it’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon with your little one.
You know what to expect. Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, the whole gang are back and they have to deal with the extreme harshness of life: Eeyore loses his tail,...
Marty: The Essence of Character
Delbert Mann’s 1955 Oscar-winning film Marty is a character driven delight. It’s the story of social outcasts, striving to fit the mold and expectations that have been placed upon them for various reasons. Marty (Ernest Borgnine) is approaching middle-age, overweight, awkward, Italian, and unmarried. Clara (Betsy Blair), a simple schoolteacher, feels like she should be so much more and...
The Help: A Pure Triumph, Through and Through
Little known director Tate Taylor was certainly lucky to have such a pal as Kathryn Stockett. As the new girl in town heralding from Jackson, Mississippi, Stockett had a lot of trouble getting her first book published, The Help, based largely on the controversial topic that she was a white writer telling a story from a black woman’s perspective. How shocking, how risque…wait it is...
The Myth of the American Sleepover: A Myth Alright
Almost flooring is the response that The Myth of the American Sleepover is getting…that’s the real myth. David Gordon Mitchell’s first film presents us with typical suburban Michigan teens. They party, they flirt, they fantasize and apparently have sleepovers. It’s undoubtedly American alright; in fact, the beer-chasing, pillow-tossing teenage experience in this film could...
Mildred Pierce: The Epic Nature of Subtlety
What else is one to expect from HBO besides fabulous? Their latest mini-series saga has been the one of Mildred Pierce, a depression-era melodrama starring Kate Winslet. The 5 part, over 6 hour series, adapted from James M. Cain’s novel, is a sprawling mass of artistic soap opera, in the best way possible. Winslet stars as Mildred, a woman on the cusp of divorce and her struggles of success,...
Adventureland: Review
A rip off an 80’s teen comedy, that kind of throws in the 80’s simply for nostalgia’s sake. I enjoyed the premise, and found it to be typically cliche at times, with some really nice moments here and there. It’s the usual story of kids struggling to make money and struggling to make love, with James (Jesse Eisenberg) getting a job at a theme park and falling for Em (Kristen...
Adaptation: Review
Charlie Kaufman’s film ADAPTATION provides no easy answers. Blending the line between fact and fiction, he gives us, through the brilliant lens of Spike Jonze, a contemplative look at art and the artists that make it. ADAPTATION is, in very obvious ways, about the creation of itself, and therefore it sheds light on the act of creation on a broader scale, one that Kaufman writes brilliantly,...
Crazy, Stupid, Love: Review
Like a breath of fresh air, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE rises above the heap of lifeless, senseless romantic comedies, and presents us with something more. What the directors mainly focus on is…wait for it: love. But not just love, but adolescent infatuation love, teenage infatuation love, guilty love, regretful love, real love, fake love, all of these different...
OBSESSED!: Carolee Carmello's 16 "Golden" Bars for... →
50 Films Vying for the 2011 Oscar Race →
"Rebecca" Review
Hitchcock’s brilliant study of guilt, class, gender, and control holds a strong place in his already worshipped canon, and does not disappoint. Although not as chalk-full of suspense as some of his other famous works, the haunting aspect of the imagery in REBECCA is chilling, and thought-provoking. Not afraid to address taboo topics in an enlightened way, the film is just as much an example...
April 2011
1 post
What to Say on a Boring Saturday
Well, I am bored right now, so I thought I would post something. I am currently at a Cue-To-Cue rehearsal for The Secret Garden….but actually I am just reading Water for Elephants, so I can see the movie next weekend, and attempting to read A Tale of Two Cities for English. I actually like both of the books, but there’s just so much to do.
Watched some awesome trailers for the summer...
February 2011
2 posts
My Tentative Best Films of 2010 List
I have watched and prepared to make this list for a long time and now being right before the Oscars, I thought it would be appropriate to post although I haven’t seen all of the films I had wanted to see before making this list. I will include my top for everything, along with who I think will win the Oscar. Regretfully, I have yet to see Another Year, Biutiful, Enter the Void, Hereafter,...
“The best of times is now,
Now, not some forgotten yesterday.
Now, tomorrow is...”
– La Cage Aux Folles
January 2011
12 posts
The New York Times' A.O Scott on "Black Swan" →
James Franco and Humanity
I just finished watching the film Howl, a biopic about poet Allen Ginsberg and his infamous Howl, which is a very sexually explicit and powerful poetic narrative that caused quite a stir upon its release due to many deeming it vulgar and inappropriate to be released to the general public, of course only giving it more momentum and being even more widely read and appreciated. I’ve read bits...
The Social Network -Conflicted Feelings
Last night I was able to take in David Fincher’s remarkable film The Social Network for a second time, something I’ve been meaning to do before I could accurately discuss my feelings on it. I loved the film for several reasons:
I think the performances are fantastic. Mara, Garfield, Eisenberg, and even Timberlake give solid, solid, performances, particularly Garfield and Mara.
Aaron...
“CB’s SISTER: And when I poked my head out of my cocoon, I realized I had...”
– Dog Sees God, Bert V. Royal
“I wish I was one of those people that thrive on the thrill of leading a double...”
– Modern Family
The Bravery of The Children's Hour
I just thought I would briefly comment on something that really impressed me today. In 1961, a film version of Lillian Hellman’s play The Children’s Hour was produced starring an incredible Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn. Not only was I astounded by their TERRIFIC performances, but this film has to be admired for how brave it was. No other film would have dealt with lesbianism and...
2011 Things to Look Forward To
1. I go to college- This is going to be a terrifying yet exciting year as I start college (hopefully) somewhere to be determined and begin my training. Here’s to new friends, great classes, and the time of my life beginning.
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2- Harry Potter sagaa finally comes to a complete end after being in my life for so long, moving me to tears, making me...
“I didn’t eat for three days so I could be lovely”
– Cassie in Skins
December 2010
14 posts
A Great Round-up of 2010 Theatre →
