Wednesday, July 20 2011
Louie, Louie, You’re Gonna Die: ‘Louie: Season One’
Louie's oddball flow and almost nonexistent narrative makes it ill-fated to survive network TV, but it also makes for excellent experimental programming.
A Rack of Junk Makes Alloyed Joy in ‘Wild and Weird’
Highlights include a Red Spectre and a Cameraman's Revenge.
Fake French: ‘Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour’
Le Tigre is the kind of band where if you’re in for an inch, you’re in for a mile.
Leave Your Guns in Space, Doc: ‘Doctor Who: The Gunfighters’
Westerns are all about taming, civilizing, even controlling some great unknown, themes equally at home in science fiction, so this story’s failing isn’t in its playful genre-hopping
Tuesday, July 19 2011
Captain Robert Scott’s Amazing Journey to the South Pole, 100 Years Later: ‘The Great White Silence’
This film has been beautifully restored, and possesses an astonishing clarity that belies its age.
‘Chocolat’ Is Sweet, Charming, Old-Fashioned Entertainment
This sweet treat might prove sinfully delightful to some, but might induce a sugar rush in the more cynical viewers.
‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Peers at the Holocaust Through a Child’s Eyes
This story of an improbable friendship between an eight-year-old German and a boy in a concentration camp is a standard if unimpressive Holocaust drama with a completely irresponsible ending.
We All Get a Bit Defrocked in ‘Priest of Love’
Director Christopher Miles throws out the parts Ken Russell would have kept.
Monday, July 18 2011
The Infinite Complexities of Race in the Americas: ‘Black in Latin America’
That Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is oftentimes surprised by what he learns in the course of exploring the history of African culture in South and Central America, speaks to how sorely overdue we are for a popular history on this topic.
Torchwood: The Complete Original UK Series (Blu-ray)
While the Starz network is beginning a new UK/US continuation of the series, the wholly UK series is wonderfully original and enjoyable, and in turn, feels complete and gratifying all on its own.
Lots of Talk, Little Action in ‘Neil Young’s Music Box: Here We Are In the Years’
Neil Young’s Music Box: Here We Are In the Years is an unauthorized documentary DVD in which music critics discuss Neil Young's musical influences, as well as his ongoing influence on his peers and musicians that have come in his wake.
When Time Twists Within Itself: ‘Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies’
Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies explores the connections between the birth of the motion picture and the evolution of modern art, particularly Cubism.
Friday, July 15 2011
‘Rango’: The Itchy, the Thirsty and the Ugly
While it works entirely as a family film, kids are not the primary target audience of Rango.
Trembling in the Web: ‘Robinson in Ruins’
A spider spins its web as the narration describes the financial crisis of 2009. Construction, decay, and reconstruction. The spider trembles in its web.
Thursday, July 14 2011
A Riveting Story Is Elevated by Captivating Performances in ‘Barney’s Version’
This is not a romantic comedy as its trailer misleads; rather, it’s a drama that carries us through the defining moments that occur within nearly 40 years of the eponymous character’s life.
Frolicking Amidst a Fractured Post-War Culture: ‘Zazie dans le Métro’
Long before Ferris Bueller took his day off, a foul-mouthed ten-year-old girl spent a weekend shaking up Paris...
‘Damnation Alley’ Is Best Viewed With a Few Pals and a Few Drinks
This by-the-numbers story straddles the line between legitimate drama and all-out silliness.
Wednesday, July 13 2011
Matthew McConaughey Returns to His Dramatic Roots in ‘The Lincoln Lawyer”’
A jaded Los Angeles defense attorney takes on a case that plunges him into a dangerous web of deception and makes him question his moral code.
Three Trips to Agatha Christie-Land: ‘Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Movie Collection Set 6’
Seldom has an actor become as closely identified with a role as David Suchet has become with Hercule Poirot: Suchet's characterization of Poirot is so complete that it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the role.
‘The Housemaid’ For All This Remake’s Demonic Promises, It’s One Rather Tame Potboiler
Despite being wickedly entertaining, this remake of the iconic Korean film is a confused examination of sociocultural shifts over the last five decades.