By Matthew Sorrento. It would be convenient to view Pacific Rim as a metaphor for its creator. Having abandoned the job of directing Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, in a widely publicized decision, Guillermo del Toro may have elected to make a simple story, pairing giant aliens versus megaton human-driven bots, […]
Edinburgh International Film Festival | June 19th to 30th, 2013
July 10, 2013
By Yun-hua Chen. Continuing with last year’s commitment to world cinema from both established and emerging filmmakers, EIFF 2013 showcased films from more than 60 countries this year. Apart from the usual strands of animation, Black Box, International Competition, and Michael Powell Award Competition, the programme includes Focus on Korea […]
Floating Weeds (1959)
July 10, 2013
By Jacob Mertens. Yasujiro Ozu makes films that sneak up on you. They may feel simple and slow-paced at first, but the heart of his stories are too delicately expressed, and far too complete, for an audience not to be moved. To call Ozu’s Floating Weeds a masterwork may be […]
Monsters University (2013)
July 9, 2013
By Jacob Mertens. It would be easy to dismiss Monsters University as a child’s film with little pull for adults, or even to warm to the film’s slapstick and nostalgia for its predecessor and let it be at that. Unlike earlier Pixar films such as Wall-E (2008), which easily transcends […]
The Politics of Critical Reception and the Marxist Feminist Sublime in Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux
July 8, 2013
By Gwendolyn Audrey Foster. “Fortunately, somewhere between chance and mystery lies imagination, the only thing that protects our freedom, despite the fact that people keep trying to reduce it or kill it off altogether.” (Luis Buñuel 2013: 174) I’m always attracted to films that cause an uproar, critical polarization, […]
The Lone Ranger
July 8, 2013
By Christopher Sharrett. Disney’s The Lone Ranger might have been a fairly credible revisionist Western were it not for its insistence on buffoonery, on postmodern smugness, the sense that “we know this is just a kiddie serial from the old days, so we’ll acknowledge how sophisticated you are, and throw […]
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
July 5, 2013
By Kimberly Behzadi. New on Amazon Instant Watch is Hyde Park on Hudson, the 2012 British historical dramedy starring Bill Murray and Laura Linney and directed by Roger Michell. Mitchell’s film is filled with historical inaccuracies and a heavy fixation on sex and scandal, focusing on the famous weekend where […]
The Way, Way Back (2013)
July 3, 2013
By Matthew Wollin. The Way, Way Back (directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash) has the immense benefit of an all-star cast, and it is a pleasure to have a role like that of Caitlyn, a long-suffering employee of a water park, played by Maya Rudolph, who effortlessly projects warmth and […]
AFI Docs 2013 Festival Report
July 2, 2013
By Gary M. Kramer. AFI Docs, formerly known as Silverdocs, took place June 19th through June 23rd in Silver Spring, MD and this year, for the first time, at several venues in Washington, DC. The program–54 features and 8 shorts, plus panels, Galas, and other special events–made for a busy […]
Appreciating Hitchcock All Over Again: ‘The Hitchcock 9’ stateside tour
July 2, 2013
By Michael T. Toole. “The silent pictures were the purest form of cinema.” (Alfred Hitchcock) It’s not that I ever lost appreciation for Hitchcock, but somehow watching his embryonic work, I savored again the beauty and ease that he conveyed his narratives, with images over dialogue. The result is not […]