George Miller first sent Mad Max blazing across the sere post-apocalyptic landscape in 1979 and thence onto cinematic legend. Sequels followed. Mel Gibson in the eponymous role rose to international fame and, eventually, Miller moved on to different sorts of classics with BABE and HAPPY FEET. Now, thirty years and more later, he is revisiting… Read More »
THE SQUARE
Click here to listen to the interview with Joel Edgerton (17:21)THE SQUARE is a film noir in the classic mold but with a distinctly contemporary flavor. A good man, the temptation of a younger woman, and an indistinct dream of a happily ever after far from the monotony of a cushy, if bland, married life.… Read More »
CHOPPER
Before he was the geek turned unjolly green giant in THE HULK, before he was part of the hapless band of soldiers storming Mogadishu in BLACK HAWK DOWN, Eric Bana turned in a dazzling performance as the most personable psychopath you can imagine in CHOPPER. Fortunately for Bana and for us, the Sundance Channel will… Read More »
MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING
The piquant documentary, MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING, takes on the question of who actually wrote Shakespeares plays and poems. Now, I am of the opinion that in the final analysis, it doesnt really matter. The works speak for themselves and whether they were written by the Bard of Avon or not, they still glimmer with… Read More »
JAPANESE STORY
JAPANESE STORY is an ambitious film that does something intriguing. It plays like life itself. At times tedious, at times ridiculous, at times infuriating, at times moving almost beyond our ability to bear it, becoming in retrospect a memory to be savored and to be pondered. It reminded me of nothing so much as the… Read More »
WELCOME TO WOOP WOOP
Years ago I developed a mad crush on Rod Taylor. He starred in the George Pal version of H.G. Wells THE TIME MACHINE and even dressed in Victorian frippery and with his best front-parlor manners, the man had a rugged hunky kind of good looks and exuded prodigious, delectable amounts of testosterone. When I saw his name… Read More »
ANIMAL KINGDOM
ANIMAL KINGDOM is a devastatingly powerful film with a brilliant performance from newcomer James Frecheville as J, a 17-year-old set adrift between a criminal family that he barely knows, and a legal system that until then has done a spectacular job of failing him. It begins with the camera drifting across two dead souls, the… Read More »
ANIMAL KINGDOM
ANIMAL KINGDOM is a devastatingly powerful film with a brilliant performance from newcomer James Frecheville as J, a 17-year-old set adrift between a criminal family that he barely knows, and a legal system that until then has done a spectacular job of failing him. It begins with the camera drifting across two dead souls, the… Read More »