Nikita Mikhalkov’s 12 has 12 Russian jurors deciding the verdict of a Chechen youth accused of killing his stepfather. Technically a remake, the film follows the structure of 12 Angry Men, while adding flashbacks of the youth and a final twist that is eye-opening and unnerving. A great film, dedicated to character-rich portraits which illuminate […]
Hillary Titley
Posted inArts + Music
Whatever: Allen’s fllm doesn’t work.
Sometimes, positive rapport with a filmmaker’s work can dissolve into the feeling of a kick in the crotch, thanks to a particularly insulting offering. Woody Allen wrote the script for Whatever Works in the 1970s for Zero Mostel (the lead is now played by Larry David), but it’s an affront in any decade. Woody has […]
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Moon rivets
Great sci-fi rivets those who aren’t inclined to watch it; in fact, great films invade and conquer audiences from anywhere. So yes, Duncan Jones’ Moon-set mystery-of-existence does rely on the silly sci-fi assumption that zero gravity is no matter in the indeterminate future, but Jones seeks to tell a claustrophobic and paranoid tale of a […]
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Public Enemies sometimes dangerous
Having a positive view of Michael Mann’s previous films, I’m tempted not to dwell on what stuck in my craw about Public Enemies. The film intermittently reaches dizzying heights of tone, tension, performance and presentation, but not often enough and never all at the same time. Great sequences like John Dillinger’s escape from an Indiana […]
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Depp impact
Johnny Depp is easily the silver-screen idol for women (and men) young and old. His on-screen personae and leading-man charisma are remarkable for their lack of definition and comfort—from making you cringe as the syphilis-afflicted Earl of Rochester in The Libertine, to making knees weak in the romantic drama Chocolat. His work from the last […]
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Up all about the journey
The old axiom of “best-laid plans” infuses the story of crusty, elderly widower Carl Fredicksen (Ed Asner), in Pixar’s Up. From the wrenching montage of Carl’s life with his beloved wife Ellie—where they missed out on becoming dashing explorers like their hero Carl Muntz (Christopher Plummer)—to Carl’s escape from his old neighbourhood with zealous Wilderness […]
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Money talks for indie filmmakers
Just as Michael Moore held church-bingo games to pay for Roger & Me, Halifax independent filmmakers find that creative financing and fundraising—the least exciting but most necessary of movie-making endeavours—is a rite of passage en route to completing their latest projects. North Sydney native and current Dartmouth actor and filmmaker Mike Ratchford is currently cobbling […]
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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, the abysmal sequel to the already lugubrious Night at the Museum, received some interesting competition in gross-out comedy Dance Flick last weekend. While the films play to different portions of the under-30 market—Museum to the kiddies, Dance Flick to the teens—the films can be compared in their […]
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Dance Flick does what it needs to do
Dance Flick is the latest offering from the Wayans brothers’ lowbrow comedy grindhouse. Aping the story of Save the Last Dance and filling out the middle with about-to-be-dated spoofs of Little Miss Sunshine, Twilight, Hairspray and High School Musical, the movie is all business in its execution: fill a loose, 90-minute story with lewd jokes, […]
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Star Trek leaves reviewer both unfazed and transported
Humble, ordinary Jane Q. Movienerd has reservations about J.J Abrams’ Star Trek. She can’t fathom the considerable expense poured into such a chintzy relic, and she never paid much mind to the original series, for which this movie is a prequel. However, she regularly goes to summer blockbusters in the hopes that the film will […]
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Director James Gray in real time
James Gray agrees when he is told that a romantic drama, like his film Two Lovers, is a rare breed in mainstream film. On the phone from his office in LA, he explains that the ridiculous behaviours that come with being in love are better suited to comedy than serious drama. So, how did Gray […]
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Movie Review: The Soloist
There is always real sincerity behind the twitchy, sardonic facade of Robert Downey Jr., and that helps sell The Soloist. Downey’s character, LA Times columnist Steve Lopez, writes about and befriends Jamie Foxx’s Nathanial Anthony Ayres Jr., a homeless man with a gift for music. Downey’s sincerity conveys the frustration of assisting someone like Ayres, […]