So far, 2008 seems like an above average year for movies. All summer, we’ve been fed by Hollywood with great stuff from the Apatow clan (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express), the now iconic Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight, from Bekmambetov with the scorchingly awesome Wanted. Terrific stuff like Roger Donaldson’s The Bank Job and [...]
Entries from September 30th, 2008
Teeth
September 29th, 2008 6 Comments
If pictures of untreated herpes outbreaks, horror stories about crab infestations, and Tom Hanks portrayal of a gay man with AIDS in Philadelphia isn’t enough to make you consider celibacy…perhaps this film will make you rethink. The premise of Teeth makes me shudder with terror. I thought the risks you take when having sex can [...]
Tags: Hale Appleman · Jess Weixler · Mitchell Lichtenstein · Teeth
The King
September 28th, 2008 No Comments
The King is one of those subtly disquieting movies that often doesn’t get the attention it deserves because of a lesser known cast, or the fact it’s independent, or else…well, I’ve never understood why people ignore good films. Released in 2005, The King was written and directed by James Marsh. Previous to this film, Marsh [...]
Tags: Gael García Bernal · James Marsh · Paul Dano · Pell James · The King · William Hurt
Ghost Town
September 27th, 2008 4 Comments
This mediocrity of this film was so frustrating, I wanted to throw up twenty minutes into it. Co-written, and directed by David Koepp (the guy who directed box-office disappointments like Secret Window, and Stir of Echos), Ghost Town is barely able to keep the attention of it’s audience, most of the time leaving the viewers [...]
Tags: David Koepp · Ghost Town · Greg Kinnear · Ricky Gervais · Tea Leoni
The Proposition
September 26th, 2008 1 Comment
In preparation for the upcoming masterpiece (is it too early to call it that?) of cinema, The Road, I chose to watch 2005′s The Proposition since director John Hillcoat directed them both. I’m not one for westerns, even if they take place in Australia (as The Proposition does), but this film is beautiful. Nick Cave [...]
Tags: Emma Watson · Guy Pearce · John Hillcoat · Nick Cave · The Proposition
Noise
September 25th, 2008 No Comments
Noise brings much more to the table than first meets the eye. This little-seen Australian beaut from writer/director Matthew Saville (who has mostly worked on Australian TV until now) packs a punch. God bless you Sundance, for bringing Noise to our attention. The main character Graham McGahan (Brendan Cowell) has tinnitus, which is a malfunction [...]
Tags: Brendan Cowell · Bryony Marks · Emma Bortignon · Maia Thomas · Matthew Saville · Noise
Transsiberian
September 24th, 2008 3 Comments
Transsiberian is one hell of a fantastic ride! Do what you can to see this little-seen gem. Before this film, I hadn’t seen anything by director Brad Anderson (unless I happened upon an episode of The Shield that he directed, and I didn’t know it) besides The Machinist, but from now on, I’ll be on [...]
Tags: Brad Anderson · Eduardo Noriega · Emily Mortimer · Kate Mara · Transsiberian · Will Conroy · Woody Harrelson
Choke
September 23rd, 2008 6 Comments
Hitting theaters this Friday is Choke, coming to us from the ‘incendiary author of Fight Club!’ Who doesn’t get excited when the words ‘from the [insert pronoun here] who brought you Fight Club!; Like most angsty young men, I hopped on that train when it came through. Tyler Durden, Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, they became [...]
Tags: Angelica Houston · Choke · Chuck Palahniuk · Clark Gregg · Kelly Macdonald · Sam Rockwell
Towelhead
September 22nd, 2008 No Comments
Be prepared to be shocked when watching Alan Ball’s feature-length directorial debut. The unflinchingly dark creator of HBO’s Six Feet Under, True Blood, and writer of the Oscar-winning film American Beauty, Ball went straight for the jugular with Towelhead, hoping to mix things up a little bit. And that, he certainly does. Towelhead is based [...]
Tags: Aaron Eckhart · Alan Ball · Summer Bishil · Toni Collette · Towelhead
Lords of Dogtown
September 21st, 2008 4 Comments
Lords of Dogtown is a difficult film to review. It’s difficult because I’m not quite sure what it was. Was it a skate film? Was it supposed to have a plot? I think the answer to both these questions is yes, when the affirmative should have only been for the latter. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke [...]
Tags: Catherine Hardwicke · Emile Hersh · Heath Ledger · John Robinson · Lords of Dogtown · Mitch Hedberg
