MOVIE REVIEW
An American Affair (2009)
Screen Media Films
In "An American Affair," director William Olssen has chosen a story that seems ripe for cinema: the Cuban missile crisis, a young boy coming of age, a stranger next door and all that great imagery of America during the Cold War. The film starts out strongly enough, with photographs and footage of President John F. Kennedy and Fidel Castro as the opening credits roll. With these two charismatic leaders pitted against each other, the stage is set for action. But the writing, acting and directing all suffer from major weaknesses that threaten the foundation of the story.
Continue reading “Peeking Into the Presidential Suite” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Che (2008)
Daniel Daza/IFC Films
The complicated life of Ernesto “Che” Guevara — idealistic doctor, determined revolutionary, postmortem counter-cultural symbol — is fodder enough for dozens of movies, so it’s no surprise that Steven Soderbergh decided to make two. The magnum opus of a director increasingly drawn towards experimentalism, the nearly five-hour “Che” divides into “The Argentine” and “Guerilla,” with each focused on the defining periods of Che’s career as a revolutionary. Experiencing the “roadshow” version – in which the two films are combined in one sitting with a 15-minute intermission – can be taxing, but there’s no questioning the scope and depth of this achievement.
Continue reading “You Say He Wrought a Revolution” »