This next film in my exploration of the Alexander Korda Eclipse box set, (after having seen Don Juan) provides another mild, but ultimately more enjoyable, discovery. The still image here of The Private Life of Henry VIII almost suggests King Henry as a vampire. Indeed, he did seem to chew through spouses at an alarming [...]
Entries from September 2009
The Private Life of Henry VIII
September 23rd, 2009 · No Comments
Tags: Biographical · Capsule · Drama
The Private Life of Don Juan
September 23rd, 2009 · No Comments
One of the ideas behind Criterion’s Eclipse series is to facilitate cinematic discoveries, to introduce unknown films to, in the company’s words “adventurous home viewers.” The four film set entitled “Alexander Korda’s Private Lives” had all the makings of a discovery for me, in that I had no previous exposure to Korda, a prolific director [...]
Tags: Capsule · Comedy · Drama
Surveillance
September 17th, 2009 · No Comments
Behind the scenes of Surveillance sits an underdog story with considerable appeal.  A staggering 15 years passed between Jennifer Lynch’s directorial debut feature, Boxing Helena, and this, her second effort. Despite its patent absurdity, I rather fondly recall Boxing Helena, a film which is perhaps underrated due to its inability to stand up next to the [...]
Tags: Capsule · Crime/Noir · Horror · Thriller
Next
September 15th, 2009 · No Comments
I just really can’t reconcile the number of films that have been made which star Nicolas Cage as the mildly vacant character swept up in some sort or frenetic intrigue. If there is any definitive proof that Hollywood is catering to the the least ambitious part of our collective movie consumption, it has to be [...]
Tags: Action/Adventure · Capsule · Sci-Fi/Fantasy · Thriller
The Soloist
September 13th, 2009 · No Comments
How does a film with impressive turns by both Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx ultimately underwhelm? At first I thought the failing might have been making Foxx’s character, the Julliard musician turned mentally ill street performer Nathaniel Ayers, too quirky and flamboyant. But this is film based on real people, and the disc’s interview with [...]
Tags: Biographical · Capsule · Drama
Silent Running
September 12th, 2009 · No Comments
I had a look at this film on the Nexflix streaming service on my new LG Blu-ray player because UK film critic Mark Kermode is always going on about how it’s one of his favorite films. On the technical side, while I am rather impressed at how some of the HD streaming titles look projected [...]
Tags: Capsule · Drama · Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Sunshine Cleaning
September 11th, 2009 · No Comments
The first time I saw the trailer for Sunshine Cleaning, I thought exactly what I was supposed to think: this looks like a fun, refreshing indie comedy like Little Miss Sunshine. It has Alan Arkin, other impressive cast members (noteably Amy Adams), a van, a catchy song (by The Decemberists, and not in the actual film) and the [...]
Tags: Capsule · Comedy · Drama
Battle In Heaven
September 10th, 2009 · No Comments
Battle in Heaven is my introduction to Mexican Director Carlos Reygadas. Over the last several years, I have had an unseen copy of his feature directorial debut, Japon (2002), both on VHS tape from cable (since discarded) and on a DVR recording (on two different systems that have since been replaced). After experiencing Battle in [...]
Tags: Director · Drama · Foreign Language · Review
Rocket Science
September 9th, 2009 · No Comments
Rocket Science is a film which piqued my attention since it’s release, based on it’s comparison’s to Wes Anderson’s Rushmore and Todd Solondz’ Welcome to the Dollhouse. Turns out that that my unintentional avoidance of the film over the past two years merely delayed by disappointment: the aforementioned films might qualify as inspirations, but certainly [...]
Tags: Capsule · Comedy · Drama · Romance
Habit
September 8th, 2009 · No Comments
How often do you get the chance to see a film made once of video (in 1982) and then again in film (in 1996)? (Okay, El Mariachi and Desparado don’t count.) A friend lent us a copy of Larry Fessenden’s Habit (the 1996 version) and thereby introduced me to a film and filmmaker of whom [...]
Tags: Capsule · Drama · Horror · Romance
Dan in Real Life
September 7th, 2009 · No Comments
Comic actors, like comedies themselves, suffer eternally from being underestimated. The assumption is that actors whose work is primarily, or initially, dominated by light-hearted material must be naturally funny rather than talented. And while that observation might ring true for some portion of the comedic actors who’ve actually been given a decent chance to break [...]
Tags: Capsule · Comedy · Drama · Romance
Goodbye Solo
September 6th, 2009 · No Comments
Among the competitive clamoring for attention that dominates the cinema box office and video shelves, one is lucky to come across a film that is confident in its quiet and singular ambition to tell an authentic tale about that which is extraordinary and compelling in the lives of ordinary people. Remarkably, Goodbye Solo seems to [...]
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
September 6th, 2009 · No Comments
Marina Zenovich’s documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, explores the circumstances and aftermath of the the 1977 criminal case against the lauded director which notoriously led to his fleeing the U.S. never to return. Polanski was essentially charged with the statutory rape of a 13-year-0ld girl whom he had been hired to photograph for a [...]
Tags: Capsule · Documentary
I Love You, Man
September 4th, 2009 · No Comments
While I expected I Love You, Man to be yet another mediocre entry in the increasingly popular bromance comedy movie genre, two things in particular lift this entry ahead of the pack: Paul Rudd and Jason Segal. (There’s a pretty stellar supporting cast, as well.) Rudd plays the part of the damaged male lead, Peter [...]
Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a 
