MOVIE REVIEW
45365 (2009)
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
There is something special about small-town America. If you’ve lived in a place your whole life, you can really get under the skin. You know where to go, what to do, and whom to do it with. You know who the characters are and what their stories are; and you can usually figure out what’s the most succinct way of demonstrating the character of the place to a visitor.
Something along the lines must have been in the minds of the Ross brothers — Bill IV and Turner — when they began filming “45365,” the zip code of Sidney, Ohio and the hometown they decided to film for about six months in 2007. They went on ride-alongs with the local cops, followed a local judicial candidate on his campaign trail and sat in with the D.J.s at the radio stations while they took requests. They filmed kids playing baseball; girls arguing with their boyfriends on the phone; men taking their sons to the barbershop; and the ex-wives of a man shaking their heads together over his current situation.
Continue reading “Deep in the Heart of It All” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo (2009)
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
As reality television and documentary filmmaking become more prevalent in everyday society, it is accepted that the act of observation changes the people being observed. The question is therefore how to create an authentic experience while addressing this fact. Some documentary filmmakers such as Nick Broomfield or Michael Moore include themselves onscreen, others provide a voiceover narration once the editing process is complete. But what Bradley Beesley has done is more dangerous and disingenuous than that.
Continue reading “Caged Rodeo Heat” »
MOVIE REVIEW
At the End of Daybreak (2009)
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
Inspired by a tabloid crime story, Malaysian director Ho Yuhang’s “At the End of Daybreak” is a tale of class divides, tragic love and the loss of innocence. It’s a slick, hectic and moody picture that’s tinged with anger and passion that cements Mr. Ho’s already exciting reputation.
Continue reading “The Dead-Leaf Echo of the Nymphet” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Woman Without Piano (2009)
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
FIPRESCI award-winning director Javier Rebollo teams up with Spanish TV stalwart Carmen Machi for an atmospheric character study that touches on feelings of helplessness and discontent and the lengths some people will go to define their existence.
Ms. Machi is Rosa, a middle-aged Madrid housewife who wiles away her time watching daytime television and tending to trite chores; Mr. Rebollo neatly highlights the banality of her routine with shots of a made bed and a plate of food. She has long, tedious conversations with people she doesn’t want to speak to: a salesman on the phone, an unhelpful woman at the post office. It all makes for a fairly miserable and meandering existence, which Mr. Rebollo emphasizes by filling the picture with shots of clocks highlighting the slow passage of time. Yet when night falls, Rosa appears to lead a secret life and donning a wig she disappears into the night.
Continue reading “Wondering in the Night What Were the Chances” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)
Kevin Mazur/AEG/Getty Images
Genuine tribute or cynical money making ploy? That question has surrounded “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” since the project — a compilation of rehearsal footage and behind the scenes interviews accrued during the run-up to Jackson’s planned 50 dates at London’s O2 Arena — was announced shortly after the King of Pop’s death. By keeping the film shrouded in secrecy, first showing it to most critics last night and at a courtesy screening this morning, Sony Pictures and AEG Live did little to stem the tide of suspicion.
Continue reading “Finding Neverland” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Starsuckers (2009)
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
Chris Atkins may be the most influential documentary maker currently working in Britain. His 2007 BAFTA-nominated film, “Taking Liberties,” examined the gradual erosion of civil liberties and the rise of a surveillance society under New Labour; it’s an informative and terrifying picture. His follow up, “Starsuckers,” is a damning indictment of the power of the media and the cult of celebrity; and it’s perhaps the most relevant and hard-hitting picture of the year.
Continue reading “La Douche Vita” »
MOVIE REVIEW
She, a Chinese (2009)
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
The enigma that is 21st-century China and the effect that rapid modernization has had on its younger generation forms the crux of Xiaolu Guo’s latest film, “She, a Chinese.” Ms. Guo’s inherently sad tale follows the personal journey of Li Mei (an exceptional Huang Lu) from the Chinese countryside to the big city and eventually to London as she vainly searches for an identity and meaning.
Continue reading “Slow Boat From China” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Giulia Doesn't Date at Night (2009)
Donatello Brogioni/
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
Italian director Giuseppe Picconi’s latest picture is a touching, wonderfully understated tale of boredom, love, deception and ultimately tragedy. It’s a well observed and beautifully shot film that benefits from some fine central performances and — despite its inherently solemn tone — is a fascinating and thoroughly compelling watch.
Continue reading “Holding Breath for Romance” »
Magnet Releasing
The next time you’re idly browsing for new threads in the nearest clothing chain store, don’t underestimate the guy hawking his services for a larger commission check. Because if this were 2005, and you were in a Diesel outlet in Philadelphia, Ti West would be regurgitating his rehearsed two-pairs-for-the-price-of-one sales pitch, yet beneath the spiel would rest the foundation for what will become one of 2009’s best horror films, “The House of the Devil.”
Continue reading “Laying the Foundation Stone for a House of Horrors” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Passenger Side (2009)
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
With “Passenger Side,” writer-director Matt Bissonnette has managed to produce a picture that boasts not only a screenplay that is nowhere near as witty or sharp as he thinks it is, but also lacks a single discernible likable character. It’s a road movie of sorts, but it meanders rather than drives towards its (not overly surprising) conclusion utilizing a series of claustrophobic car rides as a metaphor for the protagonist’s emotional journeys.
Continue reading “Brothers of the Road Bear a Heavy Load” »