Film Articles

Note: In anticipation of the Oscars, the following is a review of a best picture nominee missed during its original theatrical run.
We join, without fanfare, a life in progress as physics Prof. Larry Gopnick experiences what is euphemistically described as a “rough patch.”

Note: In anticipation of the Oscars, the following is a review of a best picture nominee missed during its original theatrical run.

What is it about Los Angeles that eludes filmmakers? Of the many attempts to capture the urban character of this fair metropolis, only two come to mind that achieve any sort of success: Swingers and L.A. Story, both of which deliver the city’s foibles, and qualities, with a knowing wink.

It almost seems unfair to frame a discussion of Terry Gilliam’s latest foray into the depths of phantasmagoria with Heath Ledger’s death, but there it is, haunting the film ts the close of a career defined by high-voltage performances in “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Dark Knight.” Much fuss has been made of Gilliam’s solution to salvaging the performance, recasting only those parts existing within a mirror-bound mindscape with not one but three actors: Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.

By many excited, breathless accounts, James Cameron has sparked a revolution in filmmaking with his use of motion-capture technology, his seamless blend of live action with CGI and, of course, that magical third dimension. Were we to peek behind the curtains, we could certainly marvel at the tools and techniques that allow actors to strut and emote, then stand back … Read More

According to the rom-com guide to romance, the surest way for a man to win the heart of a woman he doesn’t know he loves begins with acting like a jerk. Then, at the right moment, he can reveal the soft underbelly beneath his prickly exterior, thereby confirm that what women truly want is a bad boy who isn’t really so bad provided a womanly influence, intentional or not, draws out the domestic tendencies lurking deep inside. Poppycock.

Director Guy Ritchie’s vision of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s seminal detective is the sort of modern revisionism that both titillates the adrenaline glands and offends literary sensibilities. Much like J.J. Abrams’ re-invention of the original Star Trek series, Ritchie’s take on Sherlock Holmes indulges the fetish for action that has come to define almost every effort of late to adapt classic books and television series, an indulgence that often gleefully throws intellect under the box office bus.

Ryan Bingham is a hatchet man. The human resources incarnation of Death. He’s the man who gets called in to inform an employee that his or her position within a company no longer exists. But – credit the finely-tuned confluence of script, direction and George Clooney – he is certainly not a sadist. When he compares his job as a corporate downsizer, or career transition counselor, to that of a ferryman shuttling lost souls through limbo until they can see that first glimmer of hope, he is perfectly serious. With unflappable, professional, detached empathy, he specializes in talking people down from the ledge that comes with being fired.

That friend to low-budget filmmakers everywhere, the mockumentary format, provides fertile soil for reality-based concepts rooted in the simple technique of a camera crew following people around. The trick lies in sowing a premise that is clever enough to take root and grow into something more than a gimmick. Fortunately, writer-director Jay Bonansinga hits on a quirky premise in “Stash” that is outlandish enough to be taken seriously — like a so-strange-it-must-be-true blip in the weird news section.

This is the sort of film that aims the story for the hearts and minds of younger children but delivers it with enough in-jokes to keep adults amused. It’s a strategy that has worked well for many animated films whose appeal who be otherwise confined solely to kids. In the first fifteen minutes of Planet 51 alone we find visual gags and pop-culture nuggets calibrated to jolt a sly recognition among viewers with a good grasp of science-fiction movies.