— by ADAM DALE — Lately, the comedy genre has been on the decline with generic and unfunny films filling up the screen with unoriginal stories and actors literally doing the least amount possible to get their paycheck. There are always exceptions, of course, and a select few films have b[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Charge
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 2013 Cinedigm Docurama series, “Charge” is the story of one of sport’s longest and most treasured institutions rediscovering itself. The International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Race is the most treasured and dangerous competition in a spor[...]
Review: Masquerade
— by BEV QUESTAD — Spending time in South Korea this summer I chanced across a sweet film based on 17th Century King Gwanghae who out-maneuvered treacherous court representatives to champion the poor and bring justice through fairer tax, property and military conscription systems. In thi[...]
Review: Every Blessed Day
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at New York’s Lincoln Center’s Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, “Every Blessed Day” is a madcap comedy, and serious exploration, of values and emotions. Hidden away in the intimate corners of Italy, young couple Antonia and Guido are madly in love. De[...]
Review: When Comedy Went to School
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Women live longer than men. There’s a reason for it. They’re not married to women!” Old marriage jokes, at the expense of women, are part of the history of the evolution of comedy and help propel this doc in its exploration of how the famous stand-up comedians[...]
Review: Romanzo di una strage
— by RON WILKINSON — It is 1969 and conspiracies are everywhere. In America students in every college across the land are protesting the Viet Nam war, racial injustice and political corruption of all kinds. The cold war is heating up to fever pitch as the USA and the USSR rattle sabers a[...]
Review: The First Man
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the “Open Roads: New Italian Cinema” program at New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center, this is not a film for the faint of heart. Those who have some knowledge of Albert Camus’ last, unfinished novel know this story bears the fateful ending of[...]
Review: The Time Being
— by RON WILKINSON — In one of the most atmospheric films to come out of California in some time, debut director Nenad Cicin-Sain helms a screenplay by himself and Richard N. Gladstein in the film “The Time Being.” A film ostensibly about painters and painting, the story is more abou[...]
Review: Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp
— by RON WILKINSON — Robert Lee Maupin was born in Chicago in 1918 and grew up in the bowels of some of the worst ghettos in America. Several decades later, he was drinking at a bar when a man pulled a gun in anger and fired a shot. The shot was aimed at the […][...]
Review: RED 2
— by ADAM DALE — Replacing Robert Schwentke (“Flightplan,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife”) whom helmed 2010’s “RED” with Dean Parisot (“Galaxy Quest,” “Fun with Dick and Jane”) as director for the sequel started off the process of making “RED 2” a different type o[...]
Review: Computer Chess
— by RON WILKINSON — Did underground indie writer/director star Andrew Bujalski set out to make a tedious and irritating film on purpose, or did it just turn out that way? A flick with moments of genius, most of this movie plays like Andy Warhol’s spectacular “Sleep,” which consist[...]
Review: The Conjuring
— by ADAM POYNTER — Growing up, I was not a fan of the horror genre at all. My family never watched anything scary, so when I would experience these movies at a friend’s house it was extremely scary to me. Now, as an adult, I find it hard for movies to actually scare me […][...]
Review: Museum Hours
— by BEV QUESTAD — “What is it that you like about these paintings?” This is such a great question to ask. You have to step back and think, perhaps leading you to a surprising insight and appreciation inherent in the work and, further thinking about it, in your life. Anne, a single o[...]
Review: Survival Prayer
— by BEV QUESTAD — This beautiful work of art is a loving film experience that captures the old life of the Haida people who live on what used to be called the Queen Charlotte Islands. The exquisite photography is reason enough to see this important story of an ancient culture. Only 50 n[...]