Monthly Archives: May 2013
Behind The Candelabra (Steven Soderbergh, 2013)
This one is also external, over at No Ripcord. Check it out (or, you know, don’t). http://www.noripcord.com/reviews/film/behind-candelabra
Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski, 2013)
I reviewed Computer Chess for The Film Stage, check it out over there.
The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann, 2013)
Taking on The Great Gatsby is an unenviable task. In theory, it should be perfectly adaptable; it’s story-driven, but not terribly so, it takes place very prominently in a time and place that make it a great opportunity for costume and set designers, and it’s just so good. Certainly F. Scott Fitzgerald’s language can be […]
Pieta (Kim Ki-duk, 2013)
Kim Ki-duk’s 18th feature, Pieta, takes its name from the moment that Mary cradled the body of the Jesus’ dead body, and in particular art that depicts such a moment. Watching Kim’s feature, one would think that he took the name solely to provide some kind of spiritual meaning to his film, as it contains […]
Before Sunrise vs. Before Sunset
I was given the opportunity to participate in Film.com’s “The Great Debate” series courtesy of Calum Marsh. Calum, for my money, is one of the most perceptive and intelligent critics working right now, so I was thrilled to have this opportunity, and you can the whole debate here, where I argue that “Before Sunrise” edges […]
Star Trek Into Darkness (J.J. Abrams, 2013)
I was never a particularly big Star Trek fan. I have seen several episodes of each TV incarnation with the exception of Enterprise, I enjoyed a good deal of those, but I never felt the need to turn it on despite being in a household full of Trekkies. The Voyage Home is a movie I […]
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, 2013)
Let’s get a few things straight. First, New Yorkers are not inherently interesting and certainly are not inherently more interesting than other people. Second, obnoxious people who talk about nothing are not inherently enthralling. Such characters are often nothing more than overgrown children (and the opening shot of Frances Ha embodies that), and depicting them […]
Mud (Jeff Nichols, 2013)
While the studios continue to aim for the next big superhero movie, there’s a smaller goal happening among more independent filmmakers—the cinematic Great American novel. 2012 ended with an unfairly ignored adaptation of On The Road hitting the screen for the first time, and 2013 has already seen Derek Cianfrance’s novelistic fraud The Place Beyond […]
Forrest In Focus: Critical Film Reviews 