MOVIE REVIEW
Hamlet 2 (2008)
Cathy Kanavy/Focus Features
If this summer has been – as so many have asserted – a great one for comedies, it’s only appropriate that it comes to a close with the release of “Hamlet 2.” The best of the sturdy bunch, Andrew Fleming’s new film gets a lot right about the acting process and why some of us are driven to suffer the rigors and disappointments inherent in putting on any offbeat artistic production. Incisive in its understanding of the primacy of daddy issues in countless works of literature, and boasting a brilliant Steve Coogan performance, the movie is also great fun.
Continue reading “Alas, Poor Shakespeare, We Knew Him Well” »
MOVIE REVIEW
The Rocker (2008)
George Kraychyk/
Twentieth Century Fox
It is possible to have a good time watching "The Rocker" and still wish certain things had been done differently. For example, one can’t help but wonder how much better a movie it would be had director Peter Cattaneo been authorized to fully unleash Rainn Wilson’s talents. For that to happen, 20th Century Fox would need to be aware of the predominant philosophical conceit in recent comic filmmaking: R-rated is the way to go.
Continue reading “Long Live Shlock” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Fly Me to the Moon (2008)
Summit Entertainment
"Fly Me to the Moon" functions less as a movie than a 3-D demo reel. It exhibits all the latest in multidimensional effects, but forgets to tell a story to accompany them. For most of the film, Domonic Paris’s screenplay lifts wholesale from the actual transcripts of the Apollo 11 space flight. The production only departs from a simplified retelling of that tale in the narrative’s adoption of the perspective of three adolescent flies who have stowed away on the spaceship.
Continue reading “One Giant Leap Backward for 3-D Animation” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Bottle Shock (2008)
Freestyle Releasing
Part oenological feast and part jingoistic underdog story, Randall Miller’s “Bottle Shock” uncovers some original territory amidst a clichéd outline. Mostly, it’s a loving tribute to wine aficionados and to a good old-fashioned American butt-whipping of the French, with period detail and dysfunctional family drama sprinkled in. Shot amidst the golden-hued, sweeping valleys of California’s wine country, it also serves as a visual treat and proof of Bill Pullman’s unexpectedly strong dramatic chops.
Continue reading “Grapes of Wrath Enliven Napa Valley” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Hell Ride (2008)
Will McGarry/Third Rail Releasing
Larry Bishop – best known for his starring roles in such Z-grade biker flicks as “Chrome and Hot Leather” – writes, directs and stars in “Hell Ride,” a new, painstakingly self-conscious tribute to those not-so
classics. That should basically tell
moviegoers all they need to know about the tone, content and style here. The film apes the dated, simplistic focus
on gang loyalties, comical bursts of overdone violence, and oppressive
objectification of women so characteristic to the male-oriented genre.
Continue reading “To Hell and Not Back” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Frozen River (2008)
Jory Sutton/Sony Pictures Classics
“Frozen River” works as only the best movies can. It tells a taut, thought-provoking story
featuring characters moviegoers care about, and does so in a place we’ve never seen
before. The story involves the
smuggling of illegal immigrants; the characters are two single mothers; the
place is Plattsburgh, N.Y.; and the movie works because of the forceful
authenticity writer-director Courtney Hunt brings to her depiction of this
milieu. This is a movie completely
without contrivance, one anchored by Melissa Leo’s great, introspective lead
performance and the camera’s unembellished, straightforward eye.
Continue reading “Venturing Down the Slippery Road” »
