Posted in September 2011

Review: Ceremony, 2011, dir. Max Winkler

Review: Ceremony, 2011, dir. Max Winkler

“Are we in a rush or something?” It’s one of the earliest pieces of dialogue in Max Winkler’s debut picture, Ceremony, and I don’t know if he meant any irony by the statement but after an hour and twenty minutes that little quip perfectly encapsulates my feelings on the film. Winkler’s in a hurry to … Continue reading

Review: Drive, 2011, dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

Review: Drive, 2011, dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

Drive is cool; there’s no way around it. In point of fact I don’t know if there’s a better way to describe Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest film other than in terms of its inherent, blatant coolness, or more accurately a more appropriate way. “Cool” is what Drive embodies in every single detail, minute or otherwise; … Continue reading

Review: Wrecked, 2011, dir. Michael Greenspan

Review: Wrecked, 2011, dir. Michael Greenspan

I’d consider it a party foul if Michael Greenspan didn’t splurge on a high-end fruit basket for Adrien Brody once Wrecked, their 2011 attempt at aping 127 Hours, made it to post. Well-intentioned, and certainly lovely to look at, the director’s first feature-length effort lacks much of anything by way of that genre-essential trait, tension; … Continue reading

Review: Super, 2011, dir. James Gunn

Review: Super, 2011, dir. James Gunn

Last year, Matthew Vaughn’s Kick Ass posed the question, “What would happen if a regular, everyday person put on a costume and fought crime?” rather succinctly– they’d get beaten half to death– before going off the rails of reality and into full-blown superhero movie mode, as though to underscore the impossibility of the film’s own … Continue reading

Review: Black Death, 2011, dir. Christopher Smith

Review: Black Death, 2011, dir. Christopher Smith

Black Death‘s biggest draw might be Christopher Smith, director of such horror fare as the well-meaning but woefully forthcoming Triangle, the humorous and gory Severance, and Creep— which I haven’t caught myself. Smith’s latest shows roots in the horror genre, to be sure, but Black Death is the kind of film that wants to play … Continue reading

Review: Cyrus, 2010, dir. Jay and Mark Duplass

Review: Cyrus, 2010, dir. Jay and Mark Duplass

Can we really associate mumblecore to indie filmmaking any longer and remain completely honest after 2010’s Cyrus? While the movement-essential Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, don’t relinquish the personality and character of the cinema that they champion, they do work with a cast that strikes a watermark far, far above what past entries in their … Continue reading

Review: Hobo With a Shotgun, 2011, dir. Jason Eisner

Review: Hobo With a Shotgun, 2011, dir. Jason Eisner

During the last act of the felicitously named Hobo With a Shotgun, Rutger Hauer’s eponymous vagrant delivers a speech to a hospital nursery filled with babies that may set your meta-sense tingling. There’s a feeling that Hauer’s almost talking about himself and his own life decisions which have led him to star in a brisk, … Continue reading

Review: 50/50, 2011, dir. Jonathan Levine

Review: 50/50, 2011, dir. Jonathan Levine

Writing a review for 50/50 presents something of a challenge to me. On one hand, I want to rave to high heavens about it; on the other, I don’t want to oversell it. Every word I write, therefore, walks a fine line between setting up unfair expectations that the film can’t hope to meet and … Continue reading