Movie review: 'Gigante' Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 In his feature debut, Adrián Biniez tells an unpredictable tale about the workings of the human heart.
In the title role of Adrián Biniez's quietly engaging "Gigante," Horacio Camandule's Jara is pretty gigantic: a nice-looking, massive guy whose solid build is marred by too much belly for even his large frame. He's a shy, 35-year-old security guard who works a night shift monitoring the surveillance cameras of a vast supermarket on the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay. Through one of his cameras, he spots Julia (Leonor Svarcas), a pretty young cleaning woman.
'Crazy Heart' Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Sometimes the appeal is the story, other times it's the effects. Consider "Crazy Heart" for the singular performance of Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake, an aging, alcoholic country singer in need of reclamation. The story won't surprise you -- it's the classic "love of a good woman" as the solution for all that ails you. But Bridges so embodies Bad you can smell the stink rising off his body as he rolls from car to bar to stage. Now if that doesn't sound appealing, stay with him on this one because if you can't feel the pain, you can't feel the gain (sorry, just got country on my mind). With Bad, Bridges lets you walk every step of that road back to life with him. And if that's not enough, there is the music. Thanks to T Bone Burnett and the late Stephen Bruton, it's some of the most heartbreaking around.
'Sherlock Jr.' starring Buster Keaton Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800 It seems like just the blink of an eye, but it's been five years since the American Cinematheque opened a western annex with its Max Palevsky Theatre at the Aero on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. To mark the anniversary, the Cinematheque is offering a free screening of one of the most sublime comedies of all time, Buster Keaton's 1924 "Sherlock Jr." A master of movement and stillness, Keaton developed a comedy style that was as intellectual as it was physical, and this small gem shows us why he's as purely American a film genius as the motion pictures have produced. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Aero, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica.
Movies
Sherlock Holmes David Denby Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:00:00 -0000 The Film File Avatar David Denby Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:00:00 -0000 The Film File The Young Victoria Anthony Lane Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:00:00 -0000 The Film File
Rolling Stone Movie Reviews
The White Ribbon Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:36:03 -0800
Starring:
Review: Don't let anyone tell you too much about this spellbinder from Austrian writer-director Michael Haneke (Caché). Shot in stunning black-and-white by the gifted Christian Berger, The White Ribbon is a toxic blossom of images that burn into your memory. In pre-World War I Germany, a farm village is beset by accidents that may not be accidents. The Baron (Ulrich Tukur) dominates the village economy, just as the Pastor (Burghart Klaussner) holds brutal sway over the morality of the villagers and their families. It's on the faces of the children that Haneke tells his story of corruption and the grip of fascism. This haunting film never pushes itself on you. It trusts you to suss out the horror that lies beneath the veneer of innocence. You'll be knocked for a loop.
Rating:
3.5 Stars
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:34:24 -0800
Starring:
Heath Ledger
Review:
Heath Ledger's last screen performance, a remarkable one
interrupted by his tragic death at age 28 in 2008, comes wrapped in
the kind of passionate provocation of a movie that the Aussie actor
favored. (
Peter Travers reviews The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus in
his weekly video podcast, "At the Movies with Peter Travers.")
Terry Gilliam, the mad visionary behind Brazil, Time
Bandits and Monty Python, was ready to scrap the film after
the passing of Ledger, who had filmed only the London scenes. As
the movie was conceived, Ledger's con man, Tony, would join the
traveling horse-drawn caravan of Dr. Parnassus (a terrific
Christopher Plummer) and lead customers behind a mirror to a
parallel world of computer-generated fantasy. What saved the film
was Gilliam's decision to call on three of...
Rating:
3 Stars
Sherlock Holmes Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:31:55 -0800
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams
Review:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never imagined his cerebral London
detective as a ball-busting action hero. But director Guy Ritchie
did. And he's persuaded Robert Downey Jr. to mainline testosterone.
You never saw Basil Rathbone, the best movie Holmes, or Jeremy
Brett, the best TV Holmes, strip down in a freestyle-fight ring.
You do here. Even old Dr. Watson is a scrapper in the studly person
of Jude Law. Ritchie directs with the kind of Lock, Stock and
Two Smoking Barrels gusto that's meant to batter you into
submission.
Peter Travers reviews Sherlock Holmes in his weekly video
podcast, "At the Movies with Peter Travers."
The time is 1891, and the place is still London, but Ritchie
can't be bothered with period details, especially dialogue.
Noticing that the villainous Lord Blackwood (Mark...
Rating:
2 Stars
Rotten Tomatoes: Top Movies
82% Avatar Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:05:08 -0800 It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking. 68% Sherlock Holmes Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:05:08 -0800 Guy Ritchie's directorial style might not be quite the best fit for an update on the legendary detective, but Sherlock Holmes benefits from the elementary appeal of a strong performance by Robert Downey, Jr. 21% Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:05:08 -0800 This Squeakquel may entertain the kiddies, but it's low on energy and heavily reliant on slapstick humor.
NPR Topics: Movies
In Germany's Past, A Harsh Lesson For Now? Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:10:00 -0500 Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon is a dark meditation on physical and psychological violence — and on the role repression in the name of virtue may play in the shaping of violent personalities. Set in a German village on the eve of World War I, the film's exploration of religion and authoritarianism has led some to call it a subtle look at the origins of Nazism. It may, however, be much more. Stanley Tucci And The Art Of Transformation Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0500 Actor Stanley Tucci has had an enviably diverse career over 20 years on the big and little screens. His latest roles in Julie & Julia and The Lovely Bones are excellent examples of his range — but they also present an intense contrast. Tucci talks to guest host Dave Davies about his acting career. Film Director Battles For Soul Of Chinese Cinema Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:00:00 -0500 China's most famous film director aims to do battle with Hollywood for the China market with his latest film, a remake of the Coen brothers' Blood Simple. From art-house auteur, Zhang Yimou has transformed into the director of Beijing-sanctioned spectacles, including the ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.
NYT > Red Carpet
The Lawsuit Over Producer Credit for 'Crash' Gets Personal SHARON WAXMAN Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400 A top executive of the movie academy described one of the producing team behind the best-picture winner, "Crash," as throwing a tantrum in suing over credit for the film. News Analysis: Los Angeles Retains Custody of Oscar DAVID CARR Tue, 07 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400 Los Angeles, a place where race is discussed rarely, saw itself in "Crash," a film where encounter and understanding are just a random fender-bender away. 'Crash' Walks Away With the Top Prize at the Oscars DAVID M. HALBFINGER and DAVID CARR Mon, 06 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400 In a stunning twist, the motion picture academy turned its back on "Brokeback Mountain," awarding the Oscar for best picture to "Crash."
Village Voice | Films
Up the Mountain One Last Time with Sweetgrass Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600 Though the breathtaking vistas of Big Sky Country in Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor's unforgettable sheep-herding documentary come close to heaven, it's telling that AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" can be faintly heard over the sound of the electric contraptions that hired hands yield to shea...
Flooding with Love for the Kid, Starring One Man Rambo Zachary Oberzan Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600 We may remember Sadie Benning's Pixelvision bedroom with alt-film fondness, but look out: There's a new DIY no-budget sheriff in town. Zachary Oberzan's Flooding With Love for the Kid is inevitably at one with its concept—to remake First Blood (or, more accurately, adap...
Youth in Revolt, with Michael Cera as Every Role Michael Cera's Ever Had Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600 For years, Hollywood has wrestled with adapting C.D. Payne's 1993 novel Youth in Revolt—which, actually, was three novels collected under one title, and so the possibilities were endless given 500 pages of material to mine. In 1996, Fox filmed a pilot starring Chris Masterson as Nick...
Film News from Times Online
Warren Beatty 'slept with over 12,000 women' Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:22:52 -0000 Warren Beatty, the notoriously priapic Hollywood star, slept with nearly 13,000 women before he turned 55, according to a new unauthorised biography. Downloaders defy Avatar 3D barrier Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:01:00 -0000 Avatar, the 3D film directed by James Cameron, is likely to become the second highest-grossing movie in history behind Titanic, having taken more than $1 billion ($£621 million) worldwide in only three weeks. Gemma Arterton: The Bond girl done good Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:01:00 -0000 Gemma Arterton is, in her own words, a freak. “I was born,” says the 23-year-old former Bond girl (Quantum of Solace) and St Trinian’s starlet, casually thrusting forward her hands, “With two extra fingers.” She rubs softly the raised pinkish knuckle scars on the side of both hands and continues, “There were no bones in them, just the fingers and the fingernails.” Arterton, dressed down in denims and black winter woollies, and munching on a rocket and goat’s cheese salad in an East London rehearsal studio, then cocks her head to one side, parts the hair of her trademark bob, and adds, “And I’ve got a crumpled ear, look!” She taps the mildly swollen flesh at the top of her right ear, and sighs, “I was a freakish baby. A bit of an oddball. And I still feel like that now.”
