Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features
MOVIE REVIEW
Asteroid City (2023)
It's the way in which he uses physical things and precise language that makes him so easy to parody, but that is also his appeal. Wes Anderson is the only director currently working with such a clear visual style that it can be endlessly parodied without any further explanation. This is his gift but as “Asteroid City” makes clear, also his curse. Mr. Anderson is a sensitive, thoughtful director of grief and disappointment, but his messages of the need of kindness and the importance of true human connection are often lost under his aesthetic. That aesthetic overshadows how actors are fighting to work for him even in the smallest of parts; his gentle sense of humor is overlooked; and his willingness to explore even the tiniest detail within a frame makes his movies treasures which can be continually revisited without sound. On the other hand, deep in the credits of his newest offering, there’s mention of a yodelling consultant. So he’s on the verge of becoming a parody of himself.
Continue reading “Live at the Apollo” »
MOVIE REVIEW
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013)
Ishaan Nair/IFC Films
Mira Nair's latest film, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," is an investigation into Americanness wrapped in the veneer of a brash thriller, and — given recent events in domestic terrorism — eerily timely. Based on Mohsin Hamid's book of the same name, the story focuses on Changez (Riz Ahmed), a young man who is implicated in a high-profile kidnapping in Pakistan. Through conversations with a journalist, Changez retraces the steps that have led him from a sleek financial firm in New York to a radical professorship in Lahore. Jumping between moments of classic suspense and romance, Ms. Nair zeroes in on post-9/11 racism and its potentially radicalizing effects, namely on young men who feel increasingly alienated from the American dream — whatever that may be.
Continue reading “Scorn in the U.S.A.” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Salt (2010)
Andrew Schwartz/Columbia Pictures
Playing the real-world spy version of her “Tomb Raider” character, Angelina Jolie goes on a butt-kicking rampage in “Salt.” The spectacle of Angie torching and gunning down baddies while clad in a long-flowing overcoat or tight business attire is the primary selling point for Phillip Noyce’s absurd, twisty thriller, one that flirts at genuine intrigue before giving in to the worst impulses of subpar spy fiction.
Continue reading “Snoop Dog-Eat-Dog” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Repo Men (2010)
Kerry Hayes/Universal Studios
The modus operandi of “Repo Men” preys on the ignorance of moviegoers, in terms of both ripping off other movies and glossing over gaping plot holes. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker are the eponymous main characters, except this is supposedly our dystopian future where they repossess artificial organ transplants from those who can’t pay.
Continue reading “Hey Jude, Don’t Make It Worse” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Taking Woodstock (2009)
Ken Regan/Focus Features
All these years admiring Liev Schreiber and it never occurred to me to wonder what he would look like in heels and hose. Wonder no longer. Mr. Schreiber's cross-dressing marine-cum-security guard is the liveliest thing on show in Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock," an easygoing meander around 1969's legendary three-day music festival that ends up being neither one thing nor another. So Mr. Schreiber fits right in.
Continue reading “Happy as a Pig in Mud on Yasgur’s Farm” »
MOVIE REVIEW
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Michael Muller/20th Century Fox
It’s fair to question whether the “X-Men” cinematic franchise would be remotely viable were it not for the presence of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, its bad-ass centerpiece and seemingly the only mutant more prone to kicking butt than moping. He oozes charisma in the role, snarling and pounding away at his enemies with gusto while projecting wells of anger sprung forth from deep, hidden pain.
So it’s perfectly logical that he’d serve as the focal point of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the first spin-off. The film, directed by Gavin Hood from a screenplay by David Benioff and Skip Woods, reveals the tumultuous, century-spanning back story that led Wolverine (née James Logan) to Prof. Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his team. It begins with the defining traumatic event of his childhood, spans the major American wars, incorporates his brief time working on an illicit operation spearheaded by William Stryker (Danny Huston) and culminates with his quest for blood years later, after Victor Creed/Sabertooth (Liev Schreiber) murders Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins).
Continue reading “Stalked in the Forest, Too Close to Hide” »