Hollywood Releases Preview – April, 2011
by HELEN GEIB
Hollywood’s offerings for April bear the now-familiar stamp of unoriginality. It’s the new multiplex rhyme: sequel, remake, adaptation, dramatization, parody. Strictly speaking some of the films are original stories, but even there the stories will look pretty familiar to the frequent moviegoer.
However, that doesn’t mean nothing on the list looks worthwhile. Not all sequels et seq. are born equal.
My weekend picks (full releases list at the end): Read more 
DVD of the Week – Review of Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2008)
by HELEN GEIB
Mesrine is a biopic of notorious French criminal Jacques Mesrine (1936-1979), infamous for bank robberies, kidnappings, murders, and daring prison escapes. Sub-parts Killer Instinct and Public Enemy No. 1, originally released in France a month apart, divide Mesrine’s 20-odd year criminal career roughly in half, beginning with his return from Algeria after his compulsory military service and ending with his death. The two films are unmistakably two halves of a whole that was split down the middle presumably as a concession to the realities of film distribution and exhibition (the total running time of both parts put together is a shade over four hours). Public Enemy No. 1 comes out on DVD today, following last month’s release of Killer Instinct; back to back is the best way to watch them. Read more
Rewind: Films of the 60s, 70s, 80s – Thieves (1977)
by RICHARD WINTERS
Sally and Martin Cramer (Marlo Thomas, Charles Grodin) are a middle-aged, married couple whose relationship is slowly drifting apart. They were once connected through their youth and idealism, but now Martin is older and more cynical. He just wants to settle down and live the quiet life as he feels “the world is not worth saving.” Sally is still the idealist, she teaches at an inner-city school and even wants to adopt a young African-American boy, which Martin does not want because of the boy’s propensity to steal things. Sally is also pregnant and considering an abortion. The film consists mainly with them arguing about these issues while considering divorce and having affairs. Read more
Movie Review – Sucker Punch (2011)
by HELEN GEIB
It’s often said that Hollywood movie-making is all about the numbers. Allow me to break down Sucker Punch by the numbers.
Watching Sucker Punch is like watching somebody else play a video game for two hours. A video game that sprang fully formed from the mind of a 14-year old boy. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (March 25, 2011)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
A long-delayed film finally opens in Indianapolis (a mere five months or so behind schedule), while another movie heads straight to a second-run theater in the state capital while simultaneously opening in Mishawaka- and these are but a few of the many odd aspects of film distribution in the modern era. For more on what’s going on with limited-release films (holdovers, special screenings, festivals and more) and related events in the state of Indiana this week, read on below. Read more
Movie Review – Beastly (2011)
by HELEN GEIB
The “beast” of Beastly, a re-telling of the “Beauty and the Beast” fairy tale set in modern day New York City, is a selfish, egocentric high school student. Kyle (Alex Pettyfer, I Am Number Four) is the quintessential popular kid of teen movies: rich, handsome, intelligent, ripped, and vain. Everything changes when his astonishing obnoxiousness ticks off the school’s resident witch Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) and she puts him under a curse. He is transformed into a contemporary version of hideous ugliness; instead of fur and fangs, he gets horrible scars and piercings on his face, prominent tattoos all over, and the skinhead look, all of which together makes him unrecognizable to everyone he knows. He also gets one year to find true love, or he’ll live under the curse forever. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (March 18, 2011)
by MIKE MACCOLLUM
Our one new limited release movie in the state this week is actually a movie, rather than a filmed stage presentation. Imagine that…. And a long-anticipated film (well, long anticipated by me, at least) finally makes its way to Indianapolis next week. For all of the limited release movie news I know about this week- and the complete-as-far-as-I-know schedule of limited release films in non-theatrical venues, film festivals, and so on for the week- keep reading below. Read more
DVD of the Week – Review of The Fighter (2010)
by NIR SHALEV
Director David O. Russell had cast Mark Wahlberg in his movies Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, and The Fighter. In Three Kings, Wahlberg plays one of four American soldiers that went off the reservation in search of Saddam’s gold during the First Gulf War; in I Heart Huckabees, he plays a firefighter; and in The Fighter, he plays “Irish” Micky Ward, a small time boxer with large aspirations. Read more
Rewind: Films of the 60s, 70s, 80s – The Late Show (1977)
by RICHARD WINTERS
Ira Wells (Art Carney) is a crusty, old-fashioned detective from a bygone era who has settled down into retirement while renting out a small bedroom in the house of a sweet old lady (Ruth Nelson). One night he is visited by his old friend and fellow detective Harry Reagan (Howard Duff), who has been shot and dies before he can tell him the identity of his killer. Ira makes a pledge to avenge the death of his friend and bring the killer to justice. At the funeral he meets a flighty, free-spirited woman by the name of Margo Sperling (Lily Tomlin). She tries to hire Ira to get him to find out who has kidnapped her pet cat and is holding him for ransom. Ira initially refuses until he finds out that his friend Harry had been investigating the case before he was shot. Read more
DVD of the Week – Disc Commentary Track for Chinatown (1974)
by NIR SHALEV
By reading my review for The Ghost Writer, one would notice that I am a great fan of Roman Polanski’s films. Chinatown, being his grand opus, is also one of the greatest film noirs of all time and its screenplay, arguably, is the best that was ever written. Trust me, this is not an exaggeration. Read more