Get a sneak preview of upcoming movies and exciting discussions with stars and filmmakers through Stephen Farber's REEL Talk. Series starts on March 10th.
‘Jumper’ Is a Victim of Too Much Fretting Over a Sequel or Two or Three
Hollywood releases so few science-fiction movies in comparison to other genre films that it is particular disappointing when it releases something less than stellar. For all that “Jumper” is superficially entertaining, it is also so hopelessly mediocre as to be a catalogue of missed opportunities. The salt in the wound is the realization that not only is the film an excuse to set up a sequel, but that, narratively, the film merely spins its wheels and leaves its character no further along at the end than they were at the beginning. “Jumper” is an extended chase scene without a goal post; the characters are but hamsters in a wheel.
‘Vantage Point’: How You Can Tell a Film Is Not Clicking with Critics
Judging by the reaction of other film critic-types at the screening I attended, “Vantage Point” isn’t a film that will earn glowing reviews. It’s simply not a good sign when people snicker at the odd line of dialogue or plot development, and audibly groan or sigh at the film’s fundamental structure, and I suspect that the words “repetitive” and “absurd” will feature prominently in many less-than-charitable reviews. But “Vantage Point” does work very well for what it is, a escapist thriller, and while screenwriter Barry Levy took a big risk in structuring the story the way he did, it was a risk worth taking.
‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ — an Exercise in Refreshing Sincerity
“The Spiderwick Chronicles” is a dish whose ingredients exist in extraordinarily well-balanced proportions. Blending a family drama rooted in parental divorce with a magical story that bridges the known world with the unknown realm of faeries and goblins, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” has the spirit of “Labyrinth” with the richness and wonder of “Harry Potter.” While it could be argued that there are familiar equations in the plot – the naughty boy who cried wolf struggling to prove himself when there really is a wolf, for example – everything is so seamlessly put together that the feeling is not one of formula, but of refreshing sincerity. It’s as if Brian Froud and Alan Lee’s seminal illustrated book, “Faeries,” had come to life under the title of “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You.”
Fortunately, Dems Don’t Require an IQ Test — Look at Jan Baby
I have such an enjoyable time every month at the Democratic Club meeting, basking in the company of dozens of lovely Democrats, that it pains me to raise a feathery question about the lamebrained liberals who comprise the majority of the party.
At the Ivy: Exposing the Nastiest Side of Fundamentalism
From the moment we walk in the back of the theatre through an elaborate “revival” tent that sets the mood, to the dimming of the lights on a Sibyl Wickersheimer’s big yet simultaneously humble set, Carnage weaves some of that magic unique to theatres. It’s productions like these, the kind that brings pleasure in a stellar cast’s performances and intellectual satisfaction in the post-show dissection, that make me love theatre all the more.
Capitalism’s Dirty Little Secret
At heart, capitalism has become a kind of virtual economy in which labour is no longer the sole driving force but merely one node in a network of money-creating schemes. We assign economic values to things – a beautiful vista, for example – regardless of whether they can be anchored to an objective measure like labour. In other words, we obsess about the value of things – an inherently subjective and relative judgment – and neglect cost.
There Will Be Greatness
An easy example of how multilayered “There Will Be Blood” is lies in the juxtaposition of Radiohead bandmember Jonny Greenwood’s score and the film’s imagery. Initially, the music comes on strong – so strong, in fact, that it almost pushes everything else out of conscious awareness. But the music, sometimes melodic, often nothing more than a menacing minimalist drone, eventually proves to be a vital and complementary element in the film’s gestalt. From a cinematic standpoint, the music could be stripped from the film, leaving us with a mostly innocuous portrait of difficult, not necessarily honest, lives in the ebb and flow of the dangerous and often ruthless oil business. Paul Thomas Anderson’s steady, unhurried pace is engaging in and of itself, giving us a chance to soak up gorgeously shot desert vistas, meticulously considered set design, stunning visual effects, and the gradual unfolding of the characters and plot.
The Economy’s Gremlins
It’s commonly held that capitalism is the be-all, end-all of economics. Yet, as the news is flush with worry over the looming fiscal crisis, which itself dovetails with the subprime mortgage lending crisis, it is fast becoming clear that not all is rosy in capital-land. There are gremlins in the system; nagging, uncomfortable questions. To wit:
Inflation
Goodbye, Mr. Kucinich. Hello, Tactical Voting
I was going to write about the economy this week. But a new development in the Presidential primaries derailed my plans: Dennis Kucinich is dropping his Presidential bid. With only 1% of the votes in the New Hampshire primary and even less than that in Iowa, it is regrettably clear that his bid had little chance, in punditry parlance, of gaining momentum. It is also clear that the deck was not only stacked against Kucinich, but locked in that big safe we call the corporate or mainstream media. The debacle involving MSNBC and the Nevada primaries, in which Kucinich was invited then uninvited from the Democratic candidates’ debate was an outrage. It was also sadly symptomatic of the media’s almost total lack of interest in fostering a diversity of viewpoints, encouraging the collision of ideas, and promoting real, informed democracy.