Best of the Decade – 2004
by HELEN GEIB
Winner: KILL BILL: VOL. 2
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah Read more 
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (October 15, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
This is the second very interesting week in a row for limited release movies in Indiana- Woody Allen’s latest opens, along with a documentary from the director of An Inconvenient Truth, a well-reviewed dramatization of the life of young John Lennon, a drama with a former Cosby kid, and a movie with two Academy Award winners in its cast. Also, the Heartland Film Festival continues, and a diverse selection of films from India will be showing in Indianapolis. This week might not have something for everybody, but it probably comes pretty darn close. To see if there’s anything in the state this week that might appeal to you, just read on below…. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (October 8, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
It’s a big week at the Landmark Keystone Art Cinema, which opens three new films across the arthouse spectrum- an American indie, a foreign drama, and a documentary. For more on these and all the limited release films opening in Indiana this week- plus a preview of coming (maybe) attractions- read on below…. Read more
Free-Talking on Cinema, Movies, and Film (4)
by HELEN GEIB
Free Talking Series: Next Post
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NOVEMBER 3, 2010- NEW POLLS!
The election is over, but the Commentary Track polls are still open. Not even remotely consequential, but much more fun: Vote now for the best movies of 2006 and 2007!
The reader favorites for 2004 and 2005 were Million Dollar Baby and Syriana, respectively. Frankly I was surprised by both results, and most especially that they won by large majorities. The rest of the vote was fairly evenly spread over the field in ’04, while more than half the titles in ’05 didn’t get any votes (unsurprising since many of the shortlist titles for 2005 had very limited, and in some cases no theatrical distribution in the US).
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DVD of the Week – Review of The Karate Kid (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
It’s depressing that I’ve almost come to expect that the so-called “family” films that have huge opening weekends will be rude, crude, and not something I’d want my friends’ kids to see. So it made me very happy when The Karate Kid didn’t even come close to meeting my expectations. It’s longer than it needs to be and overly melodramatic in supplying one of the main characters with a tragic back story, but those are flaws that are easy to excuse. This is an entertaining and thoroughly nice movie with wide audience appeal. Read more
Movie Review – The Killers (1946)
by NIR SHALEV
As the film opens, the first thing that we notice is that the cinematography depicts a stark and dreadful time and place. It’s a small town and two men enter the light from pitch darkness. They make their way into a nearby diner and accost the owner, a patron, and the black cook. They tell them that they’re looking for “The Swede” and that whenever he arrives they’ll kill him. When asked what he’s done to them one of the killers replies: “He’s ain’t done nothing to us, he’s never even seen us before. But he’ll only see us once.” That’s the setting, taken almost word for word and step by step from Ernest Hemingway’s short story. Read more
Movie Review – The Town (2010)
by HELEN GEIB
The Town is a good looking movie. It was filmed on-location in Boston and Charlestown, the old working class neighborhood that gives the film its title and is home to its bank robber hero and his crew. The filmmakers made excellent use of the location shooting to give the crime drama story an air of verisimilitude. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (October 1, 2010)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
Talk about a busy time for limited release movies- six of them start in Indiana this Friday. I don’t know if that’s a record in recent times- but even if it isn’t a record, it’s probably close to one. With those six openers- and all of the holdovers, festivals, and so on in the state this week- let’s get right down to business, without further ado. Read more
