Last year, our own Rob Cotto declared Never Let Me Go the “most overlooked film of the year,” and I have to wholeheartedly agree. I know that seems a bit uncharacteristic, but it was genuinely surprising that this sci-fi allegory escaped my gaze when it first came out. Granted, the cast is fairly indie and doesn’t demand […]
The opening scene of Like Crazy suggests that a story will be woven that examines love under the lens of the primary mode of twenty-first century interaction: social networking, where each action of the individual is about “your space.” And, at times, our familiarity with the isolation of social media sites and their influence on our responses […]
Having been born a touch shy of two decades after the death of Marilyn Monroe, I have only her filmography and Google images to comprehend her beauty and globalizing appeal that radiates from pouting lips, sultry lilting voice, bedroom eyes, and a smile that – despite its documented manufacturing – could make the youngest cynic and oldest […]
Until Attack the Block came out earlier this year, there was a paucity of British, alien-centric films. Monsters, a 2010 film written and directed by Gareth Edwards, seems to be the best reviewed, but there’s nothing really to gauge it against for the fifty years prior. This is one of the many things that make Paul so […]
Conviction walks the well-worn path of “underprivileged youth cum adult done good,” but does it better than most. From a distance, this Hilary Swank an Sam Rockwell joint directed by Tony Goldwyn might look a bit like The Blind Side, imagining a lone woman standing up for injustice – and in a sense, it is, but the […]
Nostalgia drove me to the theater, and part of me was frightened when purchasing tickets, not because I feared being one of a handful of adults in a theater replete with children – much less the only one without his own progeny in tow – but because of what could have happened to The Muppets. Would they […]
Deciding to watch The Next Three Days took longer than actually watching the film. Paul Haggis might be one of the most polemic directors today in terms of story and content. He doesn’t necessarily cause controversy – unless it’s among critics – but, sort of like Clint Eastwood, he turns out films that are either rather solid […]
The rapper K’naan has a song that begins: “Until the lion learns to speak/the tales of hunting will be weak” It implies an empathic view of history. And a simple one, too. The perspective of the hunted would, of course, be far different than the perspective of the hunter. But what if the lion could speak? What tale […]
Amidst the mishmash of clichés, Limitless is okay, but the first thirty seconds impel the viewer to question “Why do I watch?” as it presents itself as yet another film that begins at the end, with Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) contemplating whether stepping from the ledge of his upper story balcony is better than facing the forces […]
Over at Pajiba, Cindy Davis has compiled a list of twenty interesting factoids about Inception. Here’s a sample. 8. Nolan based roles of the Inception team on those of filmmaking; Cobb is the director, Arthur is the producer, Aridane is the production designer, Eames is the actor, Saito is the studio, and Fischer is the audience. The […]