Movie Review – The Messenger (2009)
by NIR SHALEV
Serving in Iraq, Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) was hit by shrapnel while helping his fellow soldiers during a firefight. His wounds were treated and he was shipped back to the U.S. To serve out the last three months of his tour he is transferred to a Casualty Notification Team (CNT) where he must deliver grim messages to the next of kin (N.O.K.) of fallen soldiers. Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) is assigned as his mentor and must tutor him in the protocols of the job. Read more 
DVD of the Week – Review of Paranormal Activity (2009)
by NIR SHALEV
Mockumentaries have existed since the dawn of films. Looking at it from a certain perspective, every movie ever made can be considered a mockumentary because it depicts actors playing people who don’t exist and in situations that never happened. As far as the defined genre goes, mockumentaries have been steadily increasing in number throughout the past few decades. Even Woody Allen delivered a few mockumentaries, those being some of his best films, although The Blair Witch Project (1999) is the film that most people think started it all. The genre has actually reached the point that we can tell that a movie is a mockumentary just from watching its trailer. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex – “Opening Elsewhere” Supplement
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
The “Opening Elsewhere” section of Thinking Outside the Multiplex has been missing for the past two weeks, but it wasn’t on a holiday in the Caribbean – or anywhere else, for that matter. Instead, I inadvertently saved last week’s column with the wrong file extension, and when I sent it to my editor, Helen, she received a mass of unintelligible gibberish. (Not that much different from the average column, in some respects – but I digress….) After both of us made several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the column from wrong-file-extension limbo, I decided the only course was to find an earlier – very incomplete – version of last week’s column, and rewrite it as fast as I possibly could. Since the “opening elsewhere” section was the part that needed the most rewriting – and since I could not get it all done anytime soon, with my work schedule – Helen suggested that I combine the “opening elsewhere” movies from the week of 12/18 with those from the following week and present them as a separate supplement. And that, friends, is the shocking and fascinating secret origin story for what follows below. Read more
Movie Review – Avatar (2009)
by HELEN GEIB
Avatar is writer-director James Cameron’s first feature film since 2007’s Titanic. Much like Titanic, Avatar is an astonishing technical achievement and great visual artistry in the service of a third-rate script. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
Not much new this week – just the one movie, in fact – and on top of that, a number of limited-release holdovers from weeks past are now gone from Indiana theaters. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like next week will offer much relief. As of now, it looks like we’ll have to wait for January 8 (with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and – maybe – Red Cliff) for that. To see just how bare the limited-release/art film cupboard is in Indiana this week, read on below…. Read more
My Idiosyncratic Guide to Movies to Watch on New Year’s Eve
by HELEN GEIB
Christmas is here and with the coming of Christmas our thoughts turn inexorably to the last great decision of the year: what to watch on New Year’s Eve. Read more
DVD of the Week – Review of District 9 (2009)
by TOM NIXON
Destined to become a bit of a cult classic, District 9 is one of the year’s stronger genre pictures; a reworking of Alien Nation which tackles themes of intolerance, immigration, police brutality, the “greater good,” the media’s limitations, physical metamorphosis, and the pros and cons of technology, all whilst retaining a strong sense of its place in the sci-fi canon. Read more
Movie Review – Invictus (2009)
by HELEN GEIB
Invictus is a dramatization of recent South African history and part biopic of Nelson Mandela. It is set during the early days of Mandela’s presidency and revolves around his efforts to promote national reconciliation through the vehicle of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, to which South Africa played host. Morgan Freeman plays Mandela and Matt Damon co-stars as the captain of the South African national rugby team, the Springboks. Invictus was directed by Clint Eastwood from a script by Anthony Peckham based on John Carlin’s non-fiction book. The title, Latin for “unconquered,” is taken from a 19th century English inspirational poem read by Mandela during his years as a political prisoner; it is an apt summation of the film’s interpretation of Mandela and the nation under his leadership. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
LIMITED RELEASE THEATRICAL FILMS OPENING IN INDIANA THIS WEEK – Two limited release films (Me and Orson Welles and The Road) expand into several Indiana theaters this week, while the Indian film 3 Idiots opens at the Georgetown 14 in Indianapolis – and there are a number of cool movie-related events around the state (like the Indiana premiere of Rock Slyde in Terre Haute, and the Vintage Movie Night shorts in Indianapolis) as well. For more on all of this – and the other limited release films holding over around the state – read on below…. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex – “Opening Elsewhere” Supplement
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
And a few more films that opened around the country over the last couple of weeks…. Read more
