Excerpted from David Denby’s review, The New Yorker, November 16 2009 The Box, based on a story by Richard Matheson, doesn’t come close to Donnie Darko in psychological interest; it’s more a supernatural morality tale. . . . The great Frank Langella, soft-voiced and menacing, even with his flesh torn away, is a charmer. Is […]
Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax screens at the St. Louis International Film Festival 2009
Jerichow at the St. Louis International Film Festival 2009.
Here come the end-of-the-decade lists.
Film Comment: If you look across the contemporary filmmaking landscape, which peers would you name as allies, which are the ones whose work you cherish the most? Michael Haneke: I’d have to say Kiarostami. He is still unsurpassed. As Brecht put it, “simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve.” Everyone dreams of doing things simply […]
This week, people around the world are celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. If only other symbols of injustice and oppression could be torn down like that. Consider this week’s second most significant anniversary: It’s been 15 years since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s famous snubbing of Steve James’ documentary Hoop […]
LoveHKFilm — one of my favorite sources for all things Asian cinema — recently posted reviews of arguably the two biggest Korean film releases of the year, Bong Joon-Ho’s Mother and Park Chan-Wook’s Thirst. Kevin Ma’s review of Mother: As strong as the script is, the strongest aspect of Mother is the continuing maturation in […]
excerpts from THE SIX COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH OF THE ANTICHRIST by Larry Gross Film Comment, September/October 2009 . . . Lars von Trier . . . can’t seem to shut up about his beliefs, his lack of beliefs, his sincerity, his upbringing in a paradoxically rigid hippie commune, his phobias, his dishonest mommy (on […]
Excerpted from The Guardian, Charlotte Higgins Morace Park was footling around on eBay looking for antiques when he stumbled on an item that was listed casually as an “old film” – and even then he was really more interested in the tin it was in. “It had a lovely look to it,” said Park. But […]