It’s interesting that the word ‘rational’ is defined as “sensible, sane” or “endowed with reason,” but to put together a line of reasoning, to ‘rationalize’, means to offer an explanation that’s “plausible but wrong”. Shouldn’t taking action on something be an extension of its true meaning? The problem lies in that a “rationale” is a [...]
Read More documentary, DVD, Louis Psihoyos, PG-13, Ric O'Barry, The Cove, western boyTrademark: Often makes movies about love triangles that end tragically. This is how Stephen Frears, director of Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and The Queen (2007) is described on IMDB. Even in the sound byte era, it’s a slight if not unkind and incongruous tagline.
Read More Cheri, Colette, drama, DVD, Michelle Pfeiffer, R, Stephen Frears, western boySuspension of disbelief. Subverting the analytical part of the brain that says “that can’t be” is key to the experience of film, more so for the theatre. Is it easier, in these days of movies driven by computer enhanced special effects? A striving for realism or an overwhelming of the senses, a CGI three card [...]
Read More Adam Del Deo, documentary, DVD, Every Little Step, James D Stern, PG-13, western boySilent Light (Stellet Licht) is set in a Mennonite community in Chihuahua, Mexico. Johan, a husband and father, is trying to end an affair. Truthful with his wife Esther from the beginning, he still feels the other woman, Marianne, is the person he should truly be with. Richly complex yet spare at all levels, Carlos [...]
Read More Carlos Reygadas, drama, DVD, Miriam Toews, Silent Light, Stellet Licht, western boyIt will be interesting to see what people make of this film. There’s been anticipation for it and here’s my guess for how the expectations will play out. I think it will be a three way split of disappointment: people expecting it to be a combination of Crash and Dangerous Minds; people with baggage, good [...]
Read More drama, DVD, Francois Begaudeau, PG-13, The Class, western boyWhen making a film, directors always bring something of themselves to the table. They deny it or own up to it, seemingly when it serves the project. That’s not to say I’ve gone so far as to seek out interviews with director Fred Durst about his thought process on The Education of Charlie Banks. That [...]
Read More drama, DVD, Fred Durst, R, The Education of Charlie Banks, western boyDirector: John Patrick Shanley (from his play) In 1964, at a Catholic school in the Bronx, there is certainty. Sister Aloysius is the Principal, a rock of vigilance and discipline. Sister James, a young teacher, believes that kindness is the foundation of the church. Father Flynn is convinced that change must happen for the church [...]
Read More Doubt, drama, DVD, John Patrick Shanley, Meryl Streep, PG-13, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis, western boySet in a Swedish housing block in the winter of 1982, a pale wisp of a boy is tormented daily by bullies in his neighborhood. His savior, a vampire, moves in next door. The boy, Oskar, lives with his divorced mother. He’s intelligent, has no friends and harbors violent revenge fantasies against his tormentors. Adults [...]
Read More Claire Denis, drama, DVD, horror, Let the Right One In, Lina Leandersson, R, romance, thriller, Tomas Alfredson, western boyA fairly typical example of fictionalized story lines and characters, based on actual events, Battle In Seattle doesn’t deliver anything new on what was an unprecedented event in the history of free speech in this country. Namely that disparate groups in the protest movement could find common ground to present a case en masse.
Read More action, Battle In Seattle, drama, DVD, R, Stuart Townsend, This Is What Democracy Looks Like, western boy