REVIEWS
Review: 'Safe House' Has Bad-Ass Denzel Washington & Solid Action
There's nothing quite like watching Denzel Washington go all bad-ass on a group of bad guys. He's calm. He breathes very deliberately. He even emits an aura of peace about him before all hell breaks loose. He's usually the one causing said hell to break loose. Even then, when he's ripping villains apart and laughing about his partner, usually a rookie, throwing verbal jabs at him, the man remains calm somehow. This is something director Daniel Espinosa (with his first American film) understands about Washington, and he utilizes it to neck-breaking lengths in Safe House. But thankfully, that's not where this film's merits end.
⥤ Posted February 10 in Reviews | 11 Comments
Review: Atmosphere, Character Make 'Woman in Black' a True Return
A lot of uncertain variables are at work in The Woman in Black. Since returning to the world of horror, Hammer Films has had hits - Let Me In and Wake Wood - and misses - The Resident. Fresh from the Harry Potter finale, Daniel Radcliffe is untested outside of the franchise. Director James Watkins' previous film, Eden Lake, was a mixed bag of heavy atmosphere and foreboding tension with an ending both anti-climactic and shaky. Perhaps Eden Lake is a fine indicator of what to expect from The Woman in Black, a gothic and effective throwback to the mood-drenched fogs and creaky manors of the Hammer Films of old.
⥤ Posted February 2 in Reviews | 6 Comments
Sundance 2012: 'Indie Game' Shows Passion & Art in Video Games
While younger generations have been criticized for only watching TV and playing video games, Indie Game: The Movie shows it's these young people who have grown up with these forms of entertainment who now aspire to make the very products that parents once warned would rot the mind. However, in the case of game designers Edmund McMillen, Tommy Refenes, Phil Fish and Jonathan Blow, their mind is far from rotten, and it's actually quite clear as they work hard everyday to craft the kind of video games they love. But just like films at Sundance, their games are crafted outside of the game studio system.
⥤ Posted January 30 in Reviews, Sundance 12 | 4 Comments
Sundance 2012: 'West of Memphis' An Infuriating Look at Injustice
While HBO has followed the case of The West Memphis 3 throughout three different documentary films, it's director Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil) and producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh who have delivered the definitive chronicle of a tragic misstep in our country's justice system. West of Memphis starts at the very beginning with the murders of Christopher Byers, Steven Branch and Michael Moore in the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas and the impending convictions and trials of accused killers (then just young boys) Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. But they aren't guilty in the least.
⥤ Posted January 30 in Reviews, Sundance 12 | 12 Comments
Sundance 2012: Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Astounding in 'Smashed'
It's hard to tell a story of the struggles of alcoholism without coming off like a melodramatic after school special, but thankfully director James Ponsoldt has come around with Smashed. Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) stars along with Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad") as a married couple seemingly enjoying the good life with a house provided by the latter's wealthy parents and fun late nights with beers, whiskey and more. Together, this trio has turned in a simultaneously funny and harrowing tale of a young alcoholic lost in inebriation and desperate to stop drowning her life in liquor.
⥤ Posted January 28 in Reviews, Sundance 12 | 2 Comments
Sundance 2012: 'Save the Date' is Not Just Another Romantic Comedy
If there's one thing most romantic comedies can't seem to lock down it's real romance and substantial comedy. However, when it comes to the film festival circuit, plenty of films hit it right on the money. Whether it's (500) Days of Summer or even Garden State, Sundance is the place to find a real love story with heart and comedy. Save the Date easily fits into that category but with an even more grounded, even practical approach to love as a twenty-something. From the pressure of being engaged to the lead-up to a serious relationship, a lot can go wrong when it comes to romance. But thankfully, it can also go right.
⥤ Posted January 27 in Reviews, Sundance 12 | 3 Comments
Review: Decent Enough Thrills Can Be Found with 'Man on a Ledge'
Man on a Ledge, the new film directed by Asger Leth, never hits the depths of dullness its name implies. It doesn't exactly rev the engines from frame one, either. Hand-holding at times, drab for a majority of its running time, and not the most memorable of heist thrillers, it sits on that ledge for a large portion, daring to take the leap. Luckily, it finally does and ends up being above average for this brand of casual, movie-going experience. They could have chosen a much more interesting title, though. Continued below!
⥤ Posted January 27 in Reviews | 3 Comments
Sundance 2012 Video Blog: Mark Webber's Intimate 'The End of Love'
One film that premiered in the later half of the Sundance Film Festival that has still left a lasting impact on myself and Ethan is a intimate portrait of a father and son from writer/director/actor Mark Webber. You may know him as Stephen Stills in Scott Pilgrim, but Webber is a talented actor who's been starring in indies for years (I met him at my first Sundance in 2007). His new film, The End of Love, is his directorial debut starring himself and his 2-year-old boy Isaac as they try to cope with living in Los Angeles without his mother. It's very touching and raw, but a captivating look at the relationship between a father and his son.
⥤ Posted January 27 in Reviews, Sundance 12, Video Blogs | 5 Comments
Sundance 2012 Video Blog: Awesome New Horror Anthology 'V/H/S'
The found footage "genre" has become trend in Hollywood, with new Paranormal Activity's replacing the Saw films every year, and many more to come. When it comes to horror found footage films, Sundance has a strong history, with Blair Witch Project premiering back in 1999. Jump ahead 13 years to 2012 and here we are with another genre reinvention, this time refreshing the horror anthology idea with a found-footage film titled V/H/S, about VHS footage, produced by Brad Miska of Bloody-Disgusting. It's an awesome collection of six freaky, fantastic horror films rolled into one and we've got our first video blog about it to watch below.
⥤ Posted January 26 in Reviews, Sundance 12, Video Blogs | 8 Comments
Sundance 2012: 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' is Phenomenal Cinema
This is it. This is the discovery of Sundance 2012. The film that everyone is going to be talking about after the fest. And it lives up to the hype. But forget about all of that, go see this without knowing anything about it, just that it's phenomenal, and you'll experience it the way all of us did. Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin and created by the collective Court 13, is an utterly phenomenal piece cinema, an astounding, mesmerizing, heartbreaking, wonderful adventure taking us to another world, a world set in wet southern Louisiana known as the "Bathtub". This is a film that reminds me why I love cinema so much.
⥤ Posted January 25 in Reviews, Sundance 12 | 13 Comments
Sundance 2012: 'The Imposter' an Incredible Must-See-To-Believe Doc
Some might've heard this story before, about a 13-year-old boy named Nicholas Barclay who went missing in Texas in 1994, then was "discovered" years later in Spain. He was returned to the family, they believed it was him, an older, entirely different teen who spoke with an accent. But then they found out it wasn't him, it was a French man named Frédéric Bourdin who poses as kids, "to be loved". Or so that's what he claims in this doc. The Imposter, made by UK filmmaker Bart Layton, tells the story from both the family and Bourdin's perspective and it's incredible, one of those unbelievable true stories you just must see to believe.
⥤ Posted January 25 in Reviews, Sundance 12 | 5 Comments
Sundance 2012: Mike Birbiglia's 'Sleepwalk with Me' is a True Delight
Having stand-up comedians bring their act to television or the big screen always results in a mixed bag of quality. Television has the most failure, but often when a comedian brings their brand of comedy to film as well, it's a difficult transition. However, as a fan of comedian Mike Birbiglia (you can watch one of his stand-up specials on Netflix Instant), I was anxious to see how his directorial debut and first leading role in Sleepwalk with Me turned out. Thankfully, the comedian has made an adorable film about a struggling comedian with uncertain romance and a humorous sleeping disorder, all crafted from his personal stories.
⥤ Posted January 25 in Reviews, Sundance 12 | 5 Comments
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