Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (January 20, 2012)
by HELEN GEIB
The Golden Globes aren’t completely pointless: The Artist is expanding following on its best picture win there. Carnage crashed and burned on takeoff, retracting from 11 theaters in its first week to one in its second. Although still in limited release (as in, not playing everywhere), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Iron Lady, and The Descendants have expanded beyond the scope of this column. My Week With Marilyn holds on at a few theaters to continue a very respectable run. More details on these films and the rest of the week’s “outside the multiplex” listings after the break. Read more 
Keeping Track (January 19, 2012)
by HELEN GEIB
Last Week at the Movies
Gene Tierney impressed me more than she ever has before in Leave Her to Heaven, the second film in the IMA’s Winter Nights series; even more than in Laura, which I adore. I’ve seen the movie described as the “Technicolor noir” more than once and while I’d call it noirish myself, I can see where the description comes from: the ceilings. Never have I seen so many ceilings with exposed beams in a single film. And if it wasn’t actual bars on the ceiling (consistently filmed from a camera position close to the floor, making it seem like the ceiling was pressing downward), it was corners and shadows, or bars on the balustrade or bars on the window. The movie even passes the venetian blind test in practically the first scene. They’re living in a cage.
New movie-wise, Contraband was a so-so start to the 2012 movie year. Also caught up with The Adventures of Tintin. Read more
Favorite Movies of 2011?
by HELEN GEIB
In a comment exchange on Nir’s “Top 10 Films of 2011″ post on the difference between “best of” lists and “favorites” lists, Mette wrote “I still prefer to make lists of the films I like the most.” I read that and thought, “Me too!” So on that note, this week’s discussion topic is favorite movies of 2011.
Tell us your favorite movie- or your top 10 or any number in between. Don’t have a favorite movie? Then make it a scene, performance, or anything else favorite of the year. This is the place to talk about the things that made us happy at the movies in 2011. Read more
DVD of the Week – Review of Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
by NIR SHALEV
Nicolas Cage was slowly climbing up the Hollywood popularity ladder after delivering one likable performances after another in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), and the terrific Moonstruck (1987). But his craziest, loopiest performance is in Vampire’s Kiss. Here he plays (with a mysterious but bad British accent) Peter Loew, a New York yuppie who ventures one night into a club, brings home his new date (Jennifer Beals) and then is bitten on the neck by her. Read more
Capsule Movie Review – Contraband (2012)
by HELEN GEIB
Mark Wahlberg heads a strong cast as a career criminal gone straight who is pulled back into the old life when his family is threatened in the new thriller Contraband. Kate Beckinsale plays his loyal wife, Ben Foster his turncoat best friend and former partner-in-crime, Giovanni Ribisi the hired muscle, Caleb Landry Jones the inept criminal brother-in-law who gets them all into hot water, Lukas Haas one of the crew, and Diego Luna a Panama City crime boss. The film is competently executed but unlike the caper at its center, never really comes together. Strong shades of The Italian Job regardless, the main culprit is a more general over-familiarity. Read more
Movie Review – The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
by NIR SHALEV
After a 23 year hiatus, Indiana Jones left us begging for more but has at last managed to wrap up the trilogy. Wait… I could have sworn that there was another Indy film that came out in 2007…. Oh, wait! No! It was just a nightmare that the entire planet shared. Well, back to the point: We last saw Indiana Jones Jr. and Sr. drink from the Holy Grail and ride off into the sunset, both literally and metaphorically. And now, master filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s first adaptation of the beloved Tintin cartoon books and animated series has hit the big screens in an all new 3D animated, motion captured, action/adventure extravaganza. It’s nothing short of breathtaking. Read more
Thinking Outside the Multiplex in Indiana (January 13, 2012)
by HELEN GEIB
January in Indiana doesn’t look so colorless this year thanks to the IMA’s Technicolor series. For the week’s new releases and all the repertory screening news- delivered without bad puns- read on…. Read more
Keeping Track (January 12, 2012)
by HELEN GEIB
Last Week at the Movies
The IMA’s Winter Nights series kicked off with a double feature of Douglas Fairbanks’ iconic The Black Pirate (1926) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), a Warner Brothers pre-Code. The pairing is explained by the series theme of Technicolor: Both films are top examples of two-strip Technicolor. An archivist from George Eastman House gave a very informative introduction (you could call it a very long introduction or a shortish lecture) on Technicolor as a company and an evolving technical process. There was improv piano accompaniment for the silent. Read more
In the Blogosphere – January, 2012
by HELEN GEIB
A monthly round-up of recent blog posts I enjoyed reading.
Review of Warrior at The Cooler: “Warrior’s basic plot will be familiar to anyone who has seen a sports movie – the protagonists enter a big tournament as long-shots and unknowns, hoping to fight their way to the top – but what’s special about Warrior is that it doesn’t ask us to root for victory itself so much as triumph.” (read more)
LoveHKFilm.com provides its annual primer to the year’s best: 48th Golden Horse Awards (read more) Read more
