You could call Sigur Rós’ Inni a “concert film” but that’s a bit of a misnomer. Yes, the 74 minute movie consists primarily of footage culled from the band’s performances at London’s Alexandra Palace in 2008, interspersed with snippets of the band’s early performances, awkward interviews, and various antics. However, unlike many concert movies, there’s no sense of […]
At times, I think it’s all too tempting to approach The Tree of Life as a primarily esoteric or philosophical exercise. Of course, Terrence Malick doesn’t do much to dissuade that sort of approach, thanks to his existential dialog, non-linear narrative, and abstract-yet-beautiful scenery. As a result, it’s easy to approach Malick’s movie as if […]
One of (few) complaints that I hear levied against streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu is that their selections are too small. I hear this most often in the context of Netflix, which is understandable considering that Netflix’s streaming library contains approximately 20,000 titles compared to the 100,000+ titles available on DVD/Blu-ray. However, as Dave Kehr points out in his recent NY Times piece, “Streaming Video’s Emerging Bounty”, there are plenty of hidden gems in those streaming libraries.
The Playlist looks back over the life and career of the famous director, and offers assessments of his feature films. Endlessly fascinated by the spiritual, the metaphysical, the texture of dreams and memory, Tarkovsky eschewed conventional narrative and plot, and instead sought to illuminate the essence of the unconscious through a patient, enigmatic and reflective […]
If you would’ve told fans of Takashi Miike five years ago that their favorite enfant terrible would some day direct a big budget period piece that would go on to receive a good deal of critical acclaim — including a “Best Film” nomination at Japan’s Academy Awards, they’d have probably laughed in your face. But […]
Eddie Shannon, a London-based designer, recently launched Film On Paper, a searchable online gallery of his rather impressive movie poster collection. The site, which took Shannon two years and over a thousand hours to prepare, boasts photos, artist info, and background details for nearly 1,500 posters representing over 900 movies. The site has some of […]
I never thought I’d see the day when First Things — the ecumenical journal founded by Richard John Neuhaus — would review a film by Takashi Miike, one of cinema’s great enfants terrible, but here you go: Ultra-violence, as A Clockwork Orange’s protagonist reminds us, is an art. Takashi Miike agrees, judging from his new remake of Eiichi […]
One wuxia film has withstood the test of time, and, in my opinion, stands head and shoulders above the rest of its peers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon included: Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002).
Kenji Koiso has his summer vacation all planned out: he and his friend Sakuma have jobs as low-level administrators of OZ, a massive online social network used by a billion people around the world, and they’ll be working hard to make sure its myriad services run smoothly. Until, that is, Natsuki — the most popular […]