Archive | September 2012
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Musical or Play, Broadway or Off-Broadway…do you know the difference?
I’m going to an Off-Broadway play this weekend, and I think that a majority of people believe that that means I’m seeing something that is not playing in Manhattan’s Theatre District. In this case, they would be correct—but I’ve seen plenty of shows that qualify as Off-Broadway in and around the vicinity of Times Square. This […]
Julianne Moore…finally!!!
As predicted on this blog OVER SIX MONTHS AGO…Julianne Moore finally nabs the big prize—for portraying 2008 Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin in “Game Change”. So, after coming up empty with 4 Oscar, 3 BAFTA and 6 Golden Globes nominations for her film work(note: she did grab an Independent Spirit award for her stellar turn […]
Monsieur Lazhar
It is incredibly well-acted and ultimately moving, but I could never quite shake the feeling that it will someday be remade in the United States starring Robin Williams as the teacher. Cast a bunch of precocious(racially mixed, of course)10 year-olds, and suddenly it’s “Dead Poets Society 2: the Elementary School Years”. I hope that Hollywood […]
Vincent & Frankenweenie “classic”
Pretty jazzed about the upcoming “Frankenweenie” stop-motion 3D feature…and how could I not be. As I like to tell my friends, I have a taste for the macabre. And director Tim Burton has always had a healthy respect for the horror genre, along with a rather touching appreciation for the “giants of the dark” that […]
“The Master”, “Argo”, “Lincoln” and the spectre of disappointment
All of the big stuff is coming up with fall arriving, and winter on the way…and at least one of the luminaries is going to piss me off. My bet is on “Lincoln”, but I hope I’m wrong. Daniel Day-Lewis should nail it. But is Steven Spielberg past his prime? What was his last great […]
Video On Demand…yea or nay?
Anthony Lane of The New Yorker doesn’t feel I should watch premiering films on VOD(Video On Demand). And I think he should stick his elitist attitude where the sun don’t shine. Certain big city critics(despite the periodical he writes for, I hear he lives near London), with almost unlimited access to viewings on “real” movie […]
The Cronenberg Chronicle-Phase Six: Cosmopolis (2012)
Wow fucking wow. This is the exclamation that silently screamed through my mind as the credits rolled after David Cronenberg’s latest work(and second film in just nine months!),”Cosmopolis”…based on the 2003 novel by Don DeLillo. Let me be clear…I am a strong proponent of 2011’s “A Dangerous Method”, despite the fact that I don’t feel […]
“Before Midnight”!!!
Fantastic news out of Toronto, amidst the annual Toronto Film Festival, that director Richard Linklater has wrapped filming the oft-rumoured “Before Sunrise” second sequel! This is an absolutely wonderful late summer surprise for the solid cult following of the first two films. Julie Delpy(Celine) & Ethan Hawke(Jesse) reprise their respective roles(as if there could be […]
A Separation
Film #4(one to go)in my SIP ’12 project is the deserved champion(it seems), Iran’s “A Separation”. The winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, it also garnered the Golden Globe in that category. Iranian director, Asghar Farhadi, also scored an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. It won the Golden […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 