By Matthew Sorrento. While wary of classification in general, filmmakers and cinephiles resist associations to the “sports movie” the most. The athlete’s journey to the final match, the win- or lose-all moment, is often simplified into mass culture. The Coen brothers reflected this distrust in Barton Fink, when the title […]
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
By Carolyn Lake. The much anticipated adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s award-winning novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, has become one of this year’s must-see films. Director and co-writer Lynne Ramsay has created a sensory feast that leaves you feeling ill, as it should. Tilda Swinton does a truly exceptional […]
Preaching Brimstone in Camp Hell
By Cleaver Patterson. Camp Hell (2010) is not as the title may suggest an expose of the outer fringes of gay culture. What we have instead is something often anomalistic within the genre in which it comes – a horror film which attempts to be serious. Whether it succeeds or […]
Red Dog (2011)
By Carolyn Lake. Kriv Stenders’ Australian box-office hit of the year, Red Dog recently cleaned up at the Inside Film Awards – Australia’s “people’s choice” awards – winning in seven of the nine categories it was nominated in, including Best Director, Best Actor (Josh Lucas), Best Cinematography (Geoffrey Hall), and […]
A Dangerous Method (2011)
By Bryan Nixon. Director David Cronenberg is an auteur of flesh cinema whose films consistently examine the psychology of sex, violence, and regeneration. Having made films such as the voyeuristic Videodrome (1983), the mutating mad scientist thriller The Fly (1986), the gynecologic Dead Ringers (1988), the drug and bug infested […]
Kumaré (2011)
By Jacob Mertens. I have always believed in an idea of spirituality. For me, spirituality encompasses an intimate relationship between an individual and his or her surrounding environment. Note that I do not mean the word “environment” in the traditional sense of landscape and atmosphere, but rather as an external […]
Take Shelter (2011)
By Steven Harrison Gibbs. During an interview with CinemaBlend.com, writer/director Jeff Nichols observed that, “Anxiety, no matter how free-floating it is, it’s all rooted in the idea that you have something to lose.” In Take Shelter – Nichols’ sophomore outing and second collaboration with actor Michael Shannon – this sentiment […]
J. Edgar (2011)
By Bryan Nixon. “Edgar, you will rise to be the most powerful man in this country,” Annie Hoover (Judi Dench) prophesies to her son J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) in a dark suburbia bedroom. Her vision is proven true, because he created, headed, and personified the Federal Bureau of Investigation […]
A Familiar Ceremony
By Amy R Handler. Max Winkler’s debut feature, Ceremony(2010), puts a new spin on the old coming-of-age tale with edgy sensitivity, cryptic characters and a script replete with subtle ambiguity. The plot is familiar. 23-year-old Sam (Michael Angarano) is a budding author of children’s books, but much like with Sam […]
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark: A Fairy Tale Remake
By Anna Arnman. Against her will, a young girl, Sally (Bailee Madison), moves in with her estranged father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) in an enormous old house called Blackwood Mansion. Alex is an architect restoring the house with the help of Kim, an interior […]