Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (July 30, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
So, what tickles your cinematic taste buds? An American drama with a harsh, wintry, rural setting (and at least one meal with squirrel on the menu, if it’s faithful to the book), or a summery Italian comedy/drama? Both are new to the theatrical menu in Indiana this week, along with a number of other appetizers (holdovers, special screenings and so on). And not only that, but the movies coming to the state in future weeks are more numerous than usual- and bizarrely diverse. See the last section of the column for all of that; and for everything else, just keep reading below…. Read more 
DVD of the Week – Review of Clash of the Titans (2010)
by NIR SHALEV
Clash of the Titans is very loosely based on the 1981 Ray Harryhausen classic in which Perseus is tasked with defeating the kraken. The story hasn’t changed much between the two films, however Perseus’ motivation has. This film takes a more serious look at life in that mythical time period and the screenplay somewhat fails whereas the original is an assured classic because it’s fun, imaginative, and a Harryhausen masterpiece. Read more
Movie Review – Salt (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA agent based in D.C. Her life takes a wrong turn when she is tasked with interrogating a Russian intelligence operative who claims he has information to sell. He tells a fantastic tale of children taken from their parents in infancy and raised to be spies. He says that Salt is one of those children, is a Russian mole, and is going to kill the president of Russia at a state funeral in New York. Salt runs. She says she has to save her husband, now marked for death. The counter-terrorism agent-in-charge (Chiwetel Ejiofor) thinks she may actually be a spy. Her boss (Liev Schreiber) is less eager to believe it, but joins in the chase. Read more
Inception: Discuss!
by HELEN GEIB
Inception is too much fun to stop at just one review. Geoff and Nir have already published theirs, and this is my turn to chime in with my two cents. More than that, as the title indicates, this post is an invitation to join the discussion in the comments. What’s your answer to the “was it or wasn’t it” question, and if it was, when did it start, and whether it was or wasn’t, how did you know? Read more
Movie Review – Inception (2010) [Nir Shalev]
by NIR SHALEV
Writer/director Christopher Nolan presents us with an astounding achievement in mind-bending and purposeful special effects, themes regarding identity, dream logic and the philosophies of a dream within a dream, and of course, one heck of a reverse-heist film to carry it all. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (July 23, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
This is a good week for movie lovers in Indianapolis- two new limited release films show up at the Keystone Art Cinema, two new Indian films will be at the Georgetown 14, the Indianapolis International Film Festival concludes, and there are a number of interesting one-shot screenings in the city this weekend as well. And not only that, but several other limited release/art films (including one that apparently will bypass Indy-area theaters) will be showing elsewhere in the state as well. For all of the news on this and more, just read on below…. Read more
DVD of the Week – Review of Mother (2009)
by NIR SHALEV
Mother is the latest film by writer/director Joon-ho Bong whose previous masterpiece The Host (2006), a summer monster movie, was surprisingly original and had mostly centered on a dysfunctional family; it also dabbled in social critiques similar to those found in Steven Spielberg’s classic film Jaws (1975). Read more
Movie Review – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice has some good things going for it, but it needed to slow down and savor the moment. Read more
Movie Review – The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009)
by NIR SHALEV
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009) introduced the character of Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a journalist for Millennium Magazine who’d been hired by a rich man to find his niece who disappeared 40 years before. Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) is a gifted computer hacker who’d teamed up with Mikael and helped him to solve the mystery. As far as character backgrounds went, we were shown that Lisbeth had been subjected to a psychiatric institute when she was a teenager, apparently for setting her father on fire, and in the present time we saw that she was repeatedly raped and abused by her legal guardian. It was a tough yet satisfying film to watch, one that contained more psychological intrigue than the traditional thriller, and had a solid ending. Read more
Movie Review – Inception (2010) [Geoff Geib]
by GEOFF GEIB
Is it me or is Christopher Nolan finally starting to have fun? With a body of work now rivaling the best contemporary directors, it’s possible to take a step back and view his filmography as a whole, and early on especially, one does not find a pattern that would induce much in the way of a smile. Read more
