Unless you have been living under a rock the last week and immune to the ever-escalating media coverage, the YouTube clips purporting to be a trailer for a movie entitled “The Innocence of Muslims” (in short form and long form) – portraying Mohammad in less than flattering terms – was recently translated into Arabic and sparked a series of violent protests in half a dozen nations in ... Read More »
Spoiler Rating (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?): 8 A Tale of Two Cuts Hopes were high after playwright and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan had experienced his first bit of critical and commercial success with his directorial film debut, You Can Count on Me (2000), including Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress (Laura ... Read More »
Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?): 4 Even before the title appears onscreen, we are provided with the familiar descriptor, “Inspired by True Events.” But the letters cover the entire screen, as if writer/director Craig Zobel is exclaiming, “Hey, just remember, I didn’t make this stuff up!” And Zobel is not kidding. The ... Read More »
Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?): 3 Writers/directors Neil LaBute and Todd Solondz both had auspicious beginnings in the fertile ground of indie cinema in the 1990s – right before a wave of political correctness swept over American filmmaking on 9/11. And in my opinion, in 1998, both filmmakers assembled stellar ... Read More »
Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?): 9 This is Joseph Campbell territory. As such, it is important to remember that, as the cornerstones of a twentieth-century mythology, comic book characters are not supposed to be three-dimensional human beings, but more personifications of distinct ideas. Indeed, “personification” might be too strong a word. Rather, ... Read More »
Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10)? 3 1979. In the universe of science fiction films, nobody planned on sequels. And in 2012, franchising seems to be the agenda for every big-budget movie. But more on that later. I went through great pains to avoid any spoilers – a testament to how much ... Read More »
Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10)? 5 In my opinion, director David Fincher made two of his best films within the grim serial killer subgenre – Se7en (1995) and Zodiac (2007) – each of which is quite different from the other. Rooney Mara, who plays the title character in this latest adaptation Stieg Larsson’s posthumous and wildly successful ... Read More »
Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10)?: 5 Generally speaking, it seems to me that there are two ways that Hollywood presents victims of abuse. The first is as defenseless children – either literally or emotionally – and nothing more than receptacles for evil deeds and objects of our pity. The second is ... Read More »
Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?): 7 Woody Allen once said, “Paranoia is knowing all the facts.” Substitute the word “paranoia” with the word “depression,” and you have the thematic backbone of Lars von Trier’s new film, Melancholia (2011). The first half – titled “Part I – Justine” – covers the wedding reception of the ... Read More »
