Hollywood Releases Preview – April, 2010
by HELEN GEIB
And it’s time for another edition of Theatrical Releases! Not a terribly promising lineup again this month, but there are a few films to look forward to. Read more 
DVD of the Week – Review of Sherlock Holmes (2009)
by HELEN GEIB
When a literary property has been a cultural phenomenon for so long that its lifespan is measured in decades instead of years, a new work isn’t another adaptation, it’s the newest entry in the [fill in descriptor] universe. Director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is the newest entry in the Holmesian universe, featuring the latest in a long line of interpretations of Holmes (by Robert Downey, Jr.) and Dr. Watson (by Jude Law). Read more
Rewind: Films of the 60s, 70s, 80s – The Choirboys (1977)
by RICHARD WINTERS
I’ve been a fan of author Joseph Wambaugh ever since I was fourteen and read The Onion Field, which I found to be incredibly gripping. Wambaugh, a former policeman turned author, usually writes stories about cops that are laced with drama as well as humor. His novel The Choirboys had all of these ingredients and rose to the top of The New York Times bestsellers list. Unfortunately the film version did not do quite so well. Wambaugh hated it and continues to lambaste it even in interviews today. Read more
Movie Review – How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
I must admit I went into DreamWorks’ new animated family film How To Train Your Dragon with low expectations. The silly title, the been-there, seen-that trailer. If the choice hadn’t been between it and Hot Tub Time Machine this weekend, I probably wouldn’t have seen it at all. And I would have really missed out. The trailer did nothing to suggest the film’s charm and warmth. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex (March 26, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
So, we’re getting some interesting movies this week- Greenberg looks like it has potential, and Atom Egoyan is a director worthy of attention, even if Chloe has a trailer that makes it seem like a fairly standard-issue (would-be) thriller. On top of those two titles, other cool movies (like A Town Called Panic) arrive in the state, and the irresistible (to me, at least) Horrorhound convention is in Indy this weekend. But even with all of these presents waiting to be opened, I am fixated on April, and wondering why it is that that month will apparently bring so many off-beat movies- from religious/inspirational films such as Letters to God and The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry, to the intriguingly titled The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond (which will be a fairly wide release, apparently, but is coming from a distribution company I’ve never heard of before), to miscellaneous other limited-release/arthouse titles that have me really jazzed (A Prophet, Fish Tank, and The Runaways are all on the schedule for the Keystone Art Cinema in Indianapolis- and the sites for Vincere and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo still say that they are on the way as well), to several veteran actors returning to the big screen (if only briefly, perhaps) in Frankenstein Rising. Read more
Free-Talking On Cinema, Movies, and Film (1)
by HELEN GEIB
Free-Talking Series: Next Post
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JUNE 19, 2010 – JOHNNIE TO ON CRITERION FILMS
The folks at Criterion asked Johnnie To for a list of his favorite Criterion-released films. To has long been my favorite working director, so I was irrationally delighted to discover we have very similar tastes in movies. Three films by Kurosawa made his list, as did two by Melville, one by Wong Kar-Wai, and Kobayashi’s Harakiri. The full list and To’s comments at the Criterion site.
(The full table of contents for Criterion top 10s from a diverse lineup of artists.)
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DVD of the Week – Review of Red Cliff (2009), with Comparison to the Abridged US Release Version
by HELEN GEIB
The Chinese historical epic Red Cliff is one story told in two parts, each part a full length movie (think The Lord of the Rings). Part 1 was released in China in July 2008 and Part 2 six months later in January, 2009, to huge popular and critical success. It was made for the- for a Chinese production- staggering cost of $80 million, hardly a paltry budget even by Hollywood standards. It’s easy to see on the screen where the money went: the movie has a colossal production design, glorious costumes, awe-inspiring battle sequences, cast of thousands… everything you want to see in a historical epic. It also has a great director in John Woo and a stellar cast headed by Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Zhou Wei. Read more
Movie Review – Alice in Wonderland (2010)
by NIR SHALEV
I am very familiar with Tim Burton’s style and imagery and therefore, knew it was almost inevitable that he’d direct a live-action version of Lewis Carroll’s classic book “Alice in Wonderland.” Also possibly that he’d direct its sequel “Through the Looking Glass” or even more possibly a hybrid of them both, like Disney’s 1951 animated version. Finding out that he’d been working on a sequel to the books was a welcome change because frankly, there are quite enough film versions out there and not a single one had yet managed to convey the verbal imagery of the two original books. I was looking forward to seeing Tim Burton’s unique sequel to “Alice in Wonderland” and it didn’t disappoint for the most part. Read more
Movie Review – Repo Men (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
MEMO
To: The People Who Made Repo Men
From: A Dissatisfied Customer
Re: Your Movie and Why It Isn’t Very Good
I feel I should start right off by saying that I did not hate your movie. I never once thought about walking out before it was over. You came up with a great premise. There were scenes that I enjoyed and that, standing alone were quite effective. Mr. Liev Schreiber was really fantastic. However, your movie really isn’t very good, and I’d like to talk about some of the reasons why. Read more
Movie Review – Green Zone (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
The narrative hook of Green Zone, which was directed by Paul Greengrass from Brian Helgeland’s script, is a conspiracy theory. Army officer Miller (a credible and sympathetic hero in Matt Damon’s performance) is serving in Baghdad during the U.S. invasion in 2003, where he commands a unit that investigates potential WMD sites. Frustrated by the consistently wrong intelligence and infuriated by the patently unnecessary risks his men and the soldiers supporting them have had to take, he starts his own unauthorized investigation into the informant, code-named “Magellan,” who purportedly provided the intel. He joins in the pursuit of one of Saddam’s generals, and along the way uncovers the shocking truth about Magellan. Read more
