To call Captain America: The First Avenger “perfect” would be something of an overstatement– the opening scene serves absolutely no appreciable purpose whatsoever for the movie’s narrative, and the denouement gets a little choppy and falters in set-up and execution. The unsavory frames of film that bookend what you could call Joe Johnston’s masterpiece (with … Continue reading
As a rule, I’m not against the idea of remaking or rebooting movies, be they standalone titles or franchises; I think remakes are largely unnecessary, and frequently epitomize an absence of vision or creativity, but bad films can benefit from a good remake– and it’s not like people haven’t remade movies in the past. But … Continue reading
Unsurprisingly, the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is one massive climax from start to finish. What else did anyone expect? Part one heroically bit the bullet and allowed itself to bear the weight of the novel’s filler, martyr-like, so that part two could act like an unrelenting, two-hour-and-change action scene in … Continue reading
For all of its moving excellence, The Illusionist may be almost as enrapturing for the turmoil surrounding its creation as it is for its artistry. Two arguments, one originating from writer Jacques Tatischeff (from here on out referred to affectionately as “Tati”) family and the other from director Sylvain Chomest (of 2003’s The Triplets of … Continue reading
One thing can be said for certain about Rubber, the sophomore film of French director/record producer Quentin Dupieux (a.k.a. Mr. Oizo)– you will believe that a tire (named, the post-credits inform us, Robert) can gain sentience and use its newfound telekinetic powers to go on a bloody rampage through a small desert town while pursuing … Continue reading
I tend to think that anytime I type a word about Oldboy, somebody out there inevitably will react with exasperation. “Good God, Andy,” that person future-writes, “shut up about Oldboy already, it’s been almost ten years since it came out, find another film to gush over, damn.” So I’m paranoid. Sue me. In defense of … Continue reading
What happens when Pixar– animation giant, champions of quality kids’ movies, purveyors of heartfelt entertainment– releases a sequel to a film other than Toy Story? Apparently, and depending on who you talk to, an outcry across the Internet. Virtual rioting. Armageddon. Ragnarok. Götterdämmerung. Forty years of darkness, the dead rising from the grave, dogs and … Continue reading
True Grit— via the Coen brothers– represents a landmark in the oeuvre of Ethan and Larry as the first pure genre movie they’ve attempted together. Even Blood Simple only dabbles in genre cinema; True Grit on the other hand can (and arguably should) be treated and appreciated as an uncomplicated and honest contemporary Western movie. … Continue reading
I doubt very much that either Glenn Ficarra or John Requa hoped that pity would define any critical responses to I Love Phillip Morris, and if I’m being honest, then I’ll admit freely that I had no expectation to that effect, either. Yet even before the credits started to roll I felt sorry for the … Continue reading
It’s hard to talk about the New Wave of South Korean cinema without at the very least touching on revenge pictures. Blame Chan-wook Park; his vengeance trilogy represents three of the best-received South Korean pictures released during the movement’s surge in the early-to-mid 2000s, and Park himself stands out as arguably the most talked about … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 