Cinema Mishmash

Filmmaker Ari Folman had difficultly getting financing for Waltz with Bashir, in part because no one would embrace the idea of making an animated documentary. Although animation has grown far outside the confines of the children’s “cartoon,” apparently Folman’s idea of an animated memoir, exploring his mental block surrounding his military service during the Israeli [...]

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The difficulty with films which are released under a studio’s marketing campaign of secrecy (e.g., What is “Cloverfield,” What is “The Happening,” What does “Seven Pounds” mean?) is that unless the hype generates large initial box office draw (like Cloverfield), and enough word-of-mouth to cause a second wave of interest, the majority of moviegoers will [...]

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Unapologetically expressive storytelling isn’t always easy to take, but it can be a powerful experience. Based on the Richard Yates novel, Revolutionary Road is such an experience. The difficulty of the story – a suburban couple’s short lived yearning for a more fulfilling life – shouldn’t be overplayed. It’s not as if this is a [...]

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A wonderful man died early this morning. Tony Malone, a fixture of live entertainment throughout Ireland, made his way to his next act long before his earthly career should have come to a close. He was full of life, at times larger than life, great with a joke, infectiously fun-loving, and a marvelous singer. He [...]

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This week marks the opening of the beautiful new Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago, a multifaceted feast for the eyes that delivers on its high expectations as the new jewel of both the museum and Millennium/Grant Park. While the modern and contemporary galleries are lovely, the most exciting part of the new space [...]

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Based in large part upon the success of Batman Begins and Casino Royale (and, some have argued, the large studio’s desire to get extra mileage our of their established franchises during tough economic times) Hollywood seems to have a recent obsession with origins stories. So with trepidation I, along with millions of others, went to seek out [...]

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Set in Paris during the Nazi occupation, François Truffaut’s The Last Metro tells the story of a the perseverance of a theater owner and her thespian troupe despite the increasing personal and artistic challenges faced by each member. At the center is Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve) an actress who has assumed management of her Jewish husband’s (Heinz [...]

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The script for Synecdoche, New York could have been written by the love child conceived of a time-bending one night stand between the Wachowski brothers, right after having created The Matrix, and Woody Allen at the height of his neurotic New York phase. But instead it was written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, a man who is easily one [...]

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If you are perusing the aisles of your video store, real or virtual, and have a hankering for a movie that will scare the hell out of anyone facing (or contemplating) the future adolescence of a daughter, Towelhead should do just the trick. Director Alan Ball (American Beauty, TV’s Six Feet Under) is nothing if not daring. While [...]

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While Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is often identified for his contributions to “J-Horror,” such as 1997’s Cure (good) and 2001’s Pulse (so-so), for me his best work is a beautiful and nuanced character study called Bright Future (2003). As a result, I was very excited to see Tokyo Sonata, after only having seen the film’s title and poster (which shows a young [...]

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Every once in a while a light-hearted romantic comedy comes along which fulfills all of the expectations of the genre yet manages to do just a little bit more. Here Michael Cera plays Nick, a variation of his signature lovable geek, but this time he is coming to terms with the fact that the shallow, [...]

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This evening with friends I revisited the latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, having dutifully lived up to my lifelong affinity for the coolest of cinematic spies by viewing the film during its cinematic release. Since I knew this time around to expect more of an episodic installment than a compelling stand-alone story, I enjoyed [...]

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I guess I just wanted to see what all of the fuss was about, but now I feel a little silly wanting to watch Twilight on the week of its home video release. Like the teenage protagonists here (one human female, one undead male), I found myself quietly laughing throughout the film, yet for me the [...]

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I’m not particularly fond of the phrase “return to form,” but since I’m applying the term anachronistically, having just watched Snow Angels (2007) several weeks after viewing Pineapple Express (2008), I can happily announce that this small but powerful film is a return to form for director David Gordon Green. I was not impressed with Pineapple Express, [...]

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Vampires often serve a symbolic role as the proxy for those who are marginalized by society, the ones who don’t or can’t follow the rules and are therefore reviled and misunderstood. While that sounds sympathetic, traditionally the vampire is still the villain destined to be slain. In contemporary storytelling, however, vampires have been taking on [...]

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