Archive | March 2012
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Martha Marcy May Marlene
It’s superb. A 20ish young woman named Martha(Olsen sister Elizabeth, who is not one of the twins)joins a Manson-esque cult—only to escape soon after a particularly traumatic event. The great John Hawkes is FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC as the leader, Patrick. He is a marvel—and one of my favorite American actors. And Sarah Paulson, as Martha’s big sister Lucy, […]
The Muppets
Gotta tell ya’, it did weird me out a bit. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Man and Muppet living together as brothers, with Walter(the Muppet voiced by Peter Linz)feeling somewhat out-of-place in the human world(shades of “The Jerk”)? A rich, oil magnate(a wonderfully sinister Chris Cooper)wanting to demolish the already dilapidated Muppet studio to […]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(2011)
What is up with that title sequence? Is this a James Bond movie simply because James Bond is in it? Maurice Binder must be turning over in his grave. David Fincher is known for having wild and original openings for his films. They would set the right tone and always made connective sense. But I […]
Flashback: on 2010’s Kick-Ass
I’ve got a bit of a secret. I wasn’t 100% honest when I compiled my Top Ten Films list of 2010. Oh, I still believe that my #1 and #2 choices were the finest examples of film-making from that year. Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” is a mesmerizing mindfuck featuring a brave, tortured, Oscar-winning performance from […]
Real Steel
I have a question. Who are they marketing this shit towards? Kids? Then why would it feature a scene where a father is beat-up in front of his 11-year-old son over of a gambling debt? Adults? A film about boxing robots where the main one behaves like a loyal puppy? Maybe just white males of […]
On Antonio Banderas: The Skin I Live In & Puss in Boots
Nice year 2011 was for Mr. Melanie Griffith. It involved a continuation of a franchise and a return to his roots. How many American film-goers even realize that Pedro Almodovar cast Antonio in five films throughout the 1980’s before he made his stateside splash in 1992 with “The Mambo Kings”? Banderas also owes a debt of […]
The Legacy of Davy Jones: Head & The Brady Bunch Movie
It’s rough when our nostalgia bites us. I don’t think I’ve thought of Davy Jones all that much in the past couple of decades. But I have pondered his link to my childhood through his two most iconic television appearances ever since his untimely passing on February 29th at the age of 66. First, it […]
Hugo 3D & The Artist
So, they were the two most nominated films on Oscar night(11 for “Hugo”, 10 for “The Artist”), which automatically made them the frontrunners to take the lion’s share of awards—including Best Picture. We all know what happened now, but did the better movie win? I think so. Although I’m on record as saying neither truly […]
Carrie off-Broadway
I was there in 1988, and I can prove it. The original Broadway version of “Carrie” the musical(which ran for 5 performances and 16 previews at a loss of near 8 million dollars)has provoked some wild posturing over the years and entered the realm of urban folklore. It is said that if the amount of […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 