MOVIE REVIEW
Katyn (2007)
Koch Lorber Films
The great Polish director Andrzej Wajda has reportedly been waiting his entire life to tell the story of the Soviet massacre of Polish Army officers in the Katyn Forest during WWII. After experiencing “Katyn” – his studious, eloquent rendition of that terrible day and its aftermath – one understands exactly why. The film is not just about the buildup to the mass murder, its obfuscation by those responsible and the outpouring of national grief that followed it.
Continue reading “Polish Master Seeks Truth and Reconciliation” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Three Monkeys (2008)
Pyramide International
If Nuri Bilge Ceylan had been born 100 years ago, he would have been a painter of some renown. No one has the ability to capture looming storm clouds the way he can. It’s easy to imagine the shots from the apartment rooftop becoming those large paintings which museums take such pride in displaying. Mr. Ceylan is also a photographer, and the composition of all of his shots is careful and considered, with the framing almost as important as what the image shows us. The pity is that this careful attention captures “Three Monkeys” in a bell jar.
Continue reading “Acknowledge No Evil” »
MOVIE REVIEW
The International (2009)
Jay Maidment/Columbia Pictures
“The International” aims to be a thriller of the moment, gearing for topical relevance by making its villain a giant, faceless bank striving for world domination. While current events may have validated that notion, it doesn’t make for great suspense fodder despite the best efforts of director Tom Tykwer and screenwriter Eric Warren Singer. Unlike the similarly evil corporations prominently featured in films like “Three Days of the Condor” and “Michael Clayton,” the International Bank of Business and Credit’s corruption comes across in an easily quantifiable form. Its motives lack mystery and its methods prove wholly predictable.
Continue reading “Vicariously Nailing Villainous Bank Execs” »
Hyperion
THE MONSTERS
OF TEMPLETON
By Lauren Groff
Illustrated. 364 pp.
Voice/William Heinemann.
$24.95/£12.99.
Lifelong readers will understand that the odds of discovering a novel that lives up to the term's adjectival meaning grow increasingly smaller as time goes on. It's a matter of familiarity with narrative and literary tropes: the more books one digests, the more difficult it becomes to find something that truly surprises and delights in the same way all new novels used to, once upon a time. But that's exactly what makes the experience of the gems like Lauren Groff's "The Monsters of Templeton" so special.
Continue reading “What Lurks Beneath” »
Magnolia Pictures
James Gray aptly summed up the sideshow atmosphere that’s engulfed “Two Lovers,” his latest film.
Followed into the press roundtable room at Manhattan’s Regency Hotel by Casey Affleck – there filming a documentary about brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix’s sudden inexplicable transition from actor to rapper – the clearly agitated filmmaker turned around and virulently tossed him out.
Continue reading “Where’s Joaldo?” »
Martin Tsai/Critic's Notebook
The sight of people stripping down to their underwear between the racks to try on clothes rarely raises an eyebrow at the Barneys Warehouse Sale, or most any sample sale for that matter. Except for rookie loss-prevention personnel, everyone there knows the drill: no fitting rooms, no exchanges, no returns, and no place for modesty when there are bargains to be seized.
Continue reading “It’s a Man’s World, but Women Love to Shop in It” »
ヤッターマン製作委員会/
Tatsunoko/Nikkatsu/Shochiku
The much-ballyhooed world premiere of Takashi Miike’s designated Japanese box-office hitter, “Yatterman,” drew a crowd in New York City that well exceeded the capacity of the Directors Guild of America Theater, and many found themselves literally left out in the cold. The inside of the house was a study in contrasts. The majority represented Mr. Miike’s blood-thirsty, guts-hungry cult following, whose conversion likely occurred after Film Forum imported the monumental mindfuck that was “Audition” in 2001. Also present in remarkable numbers and even more impressive vocal volume were screaming teenage girls with homemade signs who turned out for Sho Sakurai, the star of “Yatterman” who is also a member of Japan’s chart-topping boy band Arashi.
Continue reading “Speed Racing on the Cultural Silk Road” »
MOVIE REVIEW
2009 Oscar-Nominated Shorts
Disney/Pixar
Shorts International continues the annual pre-Oscar tradition by releasing the entire staple of Academy Award nominated shorts in two separate programs, namely live-action and animated. This is a valuable service for two reasons: First, it’s a great way to experience a form of filmmaking typically exclusive to festivals, special screenings and the Internet. Second, it’ll help you get a leg up on your competitors in this year’s Oscar pool. The days of randomly selecting the most awards-worthy sounding title as your pick in both short film categories are now over.
Continue reading “Taking the Short Route to an Oscar Nomination” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Chosyu Five (2006)
「長州ファイブ」製作委員会
Japan – a country which fiercely guarded its international isolation until 1852 – has, 160 years later, become a member of the G8, at the top table of nations worldwide. Its genius with software technology, cars and entertainment is feted globally, with products from Walkmans to Game Boys now ubiquitous in Western culture. This success is all the more amazing when we consider modernity was only introduced to Japan sporadically after 1852, with more rapid technological expansion only arriving after 1945. To be alive at this time in Japan was to live through a whirlwind of change, and not just in how Japan managed the outside world. The feudal system was still in place in the 1860s, with clans of samurai controlling different regions similar to Italy’s city-states, and local conflicts breaking out all the time.
Continue reading “Young Men Risk All to Go West” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Now, I… (2009)
chiyuw
In Japan, these young men are called hikikomori. They barricade themselves in their rooms, forbidding other family members from entering, leaving only late at night to use the bathroom or raid food from the fridge. Perhaps they’ll go outside, but only at a time when they’ll run into as few people as possible. The word means “acute social withdrawal” and is a trend that seems to be on the recent increase across Asian Pacific. It seems to affect mostly young men who are disinterested in the pressure cooker of the educational system, but too intelligent to be happy working the unskilled jobs left over for the dropouts. In Britain, such young people are called NEETs (not in education, employment or training), but this doesn’t imply being a shut-in as well. Yasutomo Chikuma certainly has tapped the zeitgeist by choosing this as the topic for his first film, "Now, I…"
Continue reading “Permanent House Arrest With No Conviction” »