One of the brilliant posters for American Teen echoes the iconic poster for the movie The Breakfast Club, including its overly dramatic tagline. While “Heart-throb” Mitch seems a little shoe-horned into Judd Nelson’s “Criminal” position, the other leads in this film slide effortlessly into their pigeonholes…at first. It’s true that today’s teenagers are the most […]
Long did I put off watching this film – it’s lonely watching foreign screeners with no companion and I kept hoping for a reprieve, until finally I had to complete my Oscar ballot. And yet I struggle still to find the words to describe this film. Marion Cotillard’s win? Totally justified. Best […]
Based on the autobiographical graphic novel of the same name by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis chronicles how a little Iranian girl has come to live in France today. It’s as simple and as complex as that – and the animation follows suit. Almost entirely in black and white, Persepolis finds its visual complexity in […]
There has been plenty of critical pants-wetting about Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, and I am an Anderson admirer to be sure – but beyond an acting nomination for Daniel Day Lewis, I just can’t get on that train. We are presented with some fascinating information on the trials and tribulations of a prospector […]
This film is an interesting one - a small ensemble drama that ratchets tension up bit by bit. It could have been a stage place except for the vital necessity of a camera. Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman are brothers embroiled separately in various unseemly habits when they decide to commit a […]
This is a side note having little to do with this actual movie’s specific merits. After all the small-fry good work this year and big studio misfires, this film feels like a relic of another era, in a good way. Having a big December period movie with powerhouses Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts […]
Starting Out In The Evening is impeccably made and delicately acted. Frank Langella plays a venerated but obscure literary author, working on what he’s sure is his final book. Lauren Ambrose barges needfully into his peaceful scholarly life, a starstruck grad student who is deeply affected by Langella’s works. She wants to […]
This was a difficult review to write; even with my brilliant companion’s astute analysis, I am not sure I can distill the dollar value of The Savages for you, my Constant Readers, in a way that will sound properly reverent of its merits or critical of its flaws. In The Savages, Laura Linney and […]
After viewing this film, my companions and I entered into a lively discussion centered around how we felt about the protagonist. We all had strong views about him as a person, and not a lot of overlapping agreement. I report this because I did not realize at the time that we all had […]
I confess that I found it far-fetched that a film starring Keira Knightley would be on anyone’s Top Ten lists, or even get nominated for something. From a purely technical standpoint, Atonement is astonishing - all kinds of gorgeous and subtle tricks of light and camera movement give emotional thrust to our leads’ experiences. […]
