To exist is to crave companionship. From the earliest stages of our lives, we witness and are told explicitly and implicitly—by our parents, our neighbors, Disney films, television commercials—that to find a soul-mate, someone who you can share the whole of your being with, is what humanity has come to accept as the meaning of […]
Streaming Pick: “Drinking Buddies” Read More »
Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor” is an interesting war film in that it celebrates America’s elite warriors while also demythologizing them. As much as some critics have questioned the film’s often jingoistic tone, they also often neglect to recognize that with its celebration of its heroes comes a depiction of their frailties. After Berg takes the
Review: “Lone Survivor” Read More »
Contemporary mainstream action cinema is hurting. From the redundant stunt-casting of “The Expendables” franchise to the thirty-years-too-late Cold War thriller-aping antics of “Salt,” the genre has succumbed to the run-of-the-mill. But “Dredd” exists in direct opposition to this string of mediocrity. While there are other exceptions to the rule like “The Raid” (which bears more
Streaming Pick: “Dredd” (2012) Read More »
2013 wasn’t a bad year for movies, but it felt like it at times due to the dearth of big surprises. Of my top 10 films, nine were made by established auteurs, eight of whom produce work I routinely praise. Where was the earth-shattering debut from an exciting new voice, or the big blockbuster that
Danny Baldwin’s Top 10 Films of 2013 Read More »
While most of us have come to accept product placement as a necessary evil in motion picture financing, the way in which Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” prominently hawks eHarmony, Papa John’s Pizza, and Cinnabon just goes to underscore its organically phony qualities. The film, which builds a narrative around the daydreaming
Review: “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Read More »
Paramount and the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater chain today announced the “Anchorfan Pass,” a $15 ticket that will allow patrons to see “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” an unlimited number of times at any Drafthouse location beginning on January 1. It’s a nifty promotional idea for a film that is sure to have many repeat
Could the Anchorfan Pass be Hollywood’s newest business model? Read More »
Superficial readings of Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” characterize the movie as a microcosmic look at the gluttony and corruption of America’s so-called “One Percent,” but it’s actually a broader comment on our society’s confused moral compass. There’s a reason Scorsese and screenwriter Terence Winter chose to tell this particular story of financial
Review: “The Wolf of Wall Street” Read More »
On my final night attending this year’s AFI Fest, I hustled across the Chinese multiplex lobby from a screening of Hong Sang-soo’s “Our Sunhi” to another of “Borgman,” the reportedly highly disturbing Dutch film that made waves at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. I was too late to secure anything better than a second-row seat,
AFI Fest 2013: “The Unknown Known,” “The Past,” “Our Sunhi,” & “The Green Inferno” Read More »
When a film festival includes previously released films on its schedule, especially older films, they are usually great achievements in cinematic history or straight-up crowd-pleasers. AFI did a gala presentation of “Mary Poppins” this year to coincide with its Opening Night Film, “Saving Mr. Banks,” the New York Film Festival debuted a restoration of “The
AFI Fest 2013: “The Marriage of Maria Braun” (1979) Read More »
Agnès Varda, Grand Dame of the film world, descended upon AFI Fest 2013 as Guest Artistic Director. In this role, she chose several canonical films to be screened with her own personal introductions. For Sunday morning she picked John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974), a kinetic and disturbing film that Varda, appearing in
AFI Fest 2013: “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974) Read More »
