Hollywood's Classic Sci-Fi Fixation
BY DAMON SMITH Posted on 12/04/08 by: FCFeatures Comments (0 ) That's enough punishment already
I was only mildly into comics as a kid, but my favorite character by far was the bitter and wounded Frank Castle, a man whose family had been murdered and whose search for vengance had turned him into a hard wired killing machine. So i was excited when, in 2004, ... read more Posted on 12/04/08 by: TheDailyKirk Comments (0 ) A little swerve for your Thursday
Not film related per se, but inspiring none the less. Posted on 12/04/08 by: TheDailyKirk Comments (0 ) 2009 Sundance Competitors Announced
The Sundance Film Festival has just announced its line-up for the 2009 competition in both the U.S. and World Cinema categories. Among the 118 narrative features and documentaries to be presented in Park City, 91 will be world premieres. Festival director Geoff Gilmore gives Variety his gloss on ... read more Posted on 12/03/08 by: FCFeatures Comments (0 ) A Night at the Gothams
Posted on 12/03/08 by: FCFeatures Comments (0 ) Oh, it's good to be back from the Gothams.I would say around 11:00 last night, there was a moment where I was officially lost. I had wandered outside the after party of the Gothams and my inner brain workings weren't working like you would hope. At that moment I wondered what would become of me. Abduction? Death? Deathduction? ... read more Posted on 12/03/08 by: TheDailyKirk Comments (0 ) Let's Build a Fire on Reel 13 ShortsReview of Let's Build a Fire
Amazing that an experimental-type film actually managed to win the Reel 13 shorts contest this week (The other experimental film offered up by Reel 13 – Everyday – didn't fare so well – and rightly so). Some might suggest that LET'S BUILD A FIRE is a music video, but I ... read more Posted on 12/02/08 by: eplromeo8 Comments (0 ) Half Nelson
Review of Half Nelson
Existence is suffering and a person who realize that real rule have to be lonely. and supposing drugs as medicine for that awareness and pain is completely an evidence for existence is a real sadistic occurrence. Posted on 12/02/08 by: delizade Comments (0 ) I want someone to come repossess my organs!Review of Repo: The Genetic Opera
Repo: The Genetic Opera is like the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a better soundtrack and all the gore of a Saw movie. I was pretty much squirming with delight from beginning to end. Paris Hilton represents. We are gonna be doing midnight showings of this movie for years to ... read more Posted on 12/02/08 by: CineSlut Comments (2 ) I am adhering to a pretty strict drug regimen to keep my mind limberSome people say it's wrong to go to the movies on drugs. They think it is disrespectful to the spirit of the cinema to show up to a Thursday night screening of Quantum of Solace on three hits of Ecstasy and a half gram of cocaine. They think breaking into ... read more Posted on 12/02/08 by: JLSmokehard Comments (0 ) |
Hollywood's Classic Sci-Fi Fixation
BY DAMON SMITH Posted on 12/04/08 by: FCFeatures Comments (0 ) That's enough punishment already
I was only mildly into comics as a kid, but my favorite character by far was the bitter and wounded Frank Castle, a man whose family had been murdered and whose search for vengance had turned him into a hard wired killing machine. So i was excited when, in 2004, ... read more Posted on 12/04/08 by: TheDailyKirk Comments (0 ) A little swerve for your Thursday
Not film related per se, but inspiring none the less. Posted on 12/04/08 by: TheDailyKirk Comments (0 ) 
2009 Sundance Competitors Announced
The Sundance Film Festival has just announced its line-up for the 2009 competition in both the U.S. and World Cinema categories. Among the 118 narrative features and documentaries to be presented in Park City, 91 will be world premieres. Festival director Geoff Gilmore gives Variety his gloss on ... read more Posted on 12/03/08 by: FCFeatures Comments (0 ) 
A Night at the Gothams
Posted on 12/03/08 by: FCFeatures Comments (0 ) 
Oh, it's good to be back from the Gothams.I would say around 11:00 last night, there was a moment where I was officially lost. I had wandered outside the after party of the Gothams and my inner brain workings weren't working like you would hope. At that moment I wondered what would become of me. Abduction? Death? Deathduction? ... read more Posted on 12/03/08 by: TheDailyKirk Comments (0 ) I am adhering to a pretty strict drug regimen to keep my mind limberSome people say it's wrong to go to the movies on drugs. They think it is disrespectful to the spirit of the cinema to show up to a Thursday night screening of Quantum of Solace on three hits of Ecstasy and a half gram of cocaine. They think breaking into ... read more Posted on 12/02/08 by: JLSmokehard Comments (0 ) 
Multiplex: Cadillac Records“Sex had a sound.” Yessiree, Trailer Voice Man, and her name was Beyoncé. Frankly, this Oscar-baiting biopic of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) has too many big-name personalities (Jeffrey Wright, Mos Def, Cedric the Entertainer) playing too flippin’ many R&B legends (Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Big Willie Dixon) ... read more Posted on 12/02/08 by: FilmCatcher5 Comments (1 ) 
Arthouse: Nobel SonWhat the world needs right now isn’t a hero, but someone who can parse this loopy, vicious, anything-goes film, part head case, part Maximum Entertainment Vehicle. It’s as if some mad scientist fed genre films into a cinematic super-collider, spliced in some clichéd gags (aren’t poetry readings and academic soirees ... read more Posted on 12/02/08 by: FilmCatcher5 Comments (1 ) 
DVD: White DogWe’ll always love ’80s heartthrob Kristy McNichol, and not just because of her unwholesome turn as a summer-camp virgin who loses it to Matt Dillon in Little Darlings. Sure, her film work was mostly an embarrassment (seen The Pirate Movie lately?), and once Dynamite! magazine stopped calling, TV was probably ... read more Posted on 12/02/08 by: FilmCatcher5 Comments (1 ) |
Brilliant
Review of Once
I've really never seen a movie like this. Music can have such a gentle yet powerful nature, and this film captures that brilliantly. I don't know much about John Carney, but I like that he wrote and directed this film; I'm sure it could be accidental, but the tightness of ... read more Posted on 12/31/07 by: chrisrayn Comments (0 ) Sayles soaks his paean to the blues in Southern mythology
Review of Honeydripper
The blind guitar player. The runaway train-hopper. The drunken knife fight. The last chance at saving the establishment. They're all elements of folklore and mythology, be it Southern blues mythology (the first three) or cinematic mythology (the last one). How many films have we seen where a proprietor is told ... read more Posted on 12/30/07 by: ZacharyWigon Comments (0 ) Animated docudrama
Review of Persepolis
The black-and-white graphics of the animated film "Persepolis" are deceptively simple but that does not diminish the double whammy of an enlightening history lesson of the Iranian Revolution plus a captivating coming-of-age story of a young headstrong girl. Marj is growing up in 1978 Iran living with her liberal family ... read more Posted on 12/30/07 by: buddy Comments (0 ) I'd rather be giving my only child up for adoption.
Review of Juno
It seems that reviewing Juno is a new prerequisite for posting on FilmCatcher, so here is my go at it: People are lying to you. Juno is not a good movie. Yes, there are a few laughs, but we are talking about single digits here. With the calibre of ... read more Posted on 12/30/07 by: Aaron Comments (11 ) Not too rich, not too light
Review of Layer Cake
This was the film many people were recommending when Daniel Craig's selection as the new James Bond was met with so much loud, nerdy resistance. What those making the recommendation knew was that Layer Cake reveals Craig's capacity for being at turns very charming and very menacing. It also hints ... read more Posted on 12/29/07 by: Aaron Comments (0 ) It's All There
Review of I'm Not There
In this deep and provacative documentary on the life of Bob Dylan, we are invited to share in many aspects of the life of the man and artist. Each performer turning in grand performances - Marcus Carl Franklin, as the young troubador mature beyond his years - both lyrically and ... read more Posted on 12/29/07 by: dougiejr3 Comments (0 ) Knocked Up, Quirky Hipster Style
Review of Juno
Honestly, the title sequence had me worried. The opening scene about the chair was decent, but the cartoony title sequence had me jittery. The next sections of dialogue worried me as well. However, though the quirky, hipster dialogue overshoots any boundaries of normalcy with the real world, I eventually settled ... read more Posted on 12/29/07 by: chrisrayn Comments (0 ) More Gangs of New York
Review of American Gangster
American Gangster is one of those films that takes great risk in treading where many feet have already. Any gangster film produced these days has been preceded by a number of capable predecessors: The Godfather films, Goodfellas, The Departed, etc. In fact, the latter of those won best picture at ... read more Posted on 12/29/07 by: chrisrayn Comments (0 ) Not the Same Old Song
Review of Atonement
When I walked into the Angelika Plano to view Atonement, it was rumored to my ears to be the next Titanic. Some may view this as a good thing, but I did not. Now, perhaps my problems with Titanic were directly related to the poisonous girlfriend I had at the ... read more Posted on 12/28/07 by: chrisrayn Comments (0 ) The Political As Personal, The Personal As Political
Review of Persepolis
As evidenced by the recent slate of disastrously incompetent political films Americans have been subjected to recently (Lions For Lambs, Redacted, In The Valley Of Elah, et cetera), to make a film that combines the political with the personal is no easy task. It's a predicament that constantly pushes art ... read more Posted on 12/27/07 by: ZacharyWigon Comments (0 ) Great Debater
Review of Great Debaters
This film is beyond awesome. Oprah [producer]and Denzel [director] displayed transforming vision. The film examines not only the art of Debate but revisits Black history's era of crushing poverty and unimaginable contradictions in America. We peeked into the images behind the shadows of the personalities. I was stuck not only ... read more Posted on 12/27/07 by: oiltown Comments (0 ) "I'm Not There"
Review of I'm Not There
by Anthony Kaufman - Curator Emeritus Posted on 12/27/07 by: anthony Comments (1 ) Texgotham
Review of Charlie Wilson's War
If you recall our history of covert operations in Afghanistan in the 1980s you come away Charlie Wilson's War saying to yourself, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." The movie examines American anti-Communism where we armed the Mujahadeen that would later lead to the rise of the ... read more Posted on 12/22/07 by: Texgotham Comments (0 ) I Am Average
Review of I Am Legend
The Last man on earth is not alone! Because there are poorly done CGI vampire creatures roaming the streets of Manhattan at night. Yes that's right it's another monster movie fronting as an intimate look at the psyche of the last man on earth who just happens to be a ... read more Posted on 12/19/07 by: matt2648 Comments (1 ) Waiting For the Winner
Review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Rightly nominated as one of the top 10 films of 2007, this French film is both beautiful and traumatic in the eye of the beholder. Throughout several moments in the film, the director shifts the perspective to where the viewer "becomes" Bauby and can see (and almost feel) as he ... read more Posted on 12/19/07 by: Penny Kim Comments (0 ) Blue Magic
Review of American Gangster
I have my suspicions that this film will give Denzel another Academy nomination, and it will be deserved for his captivating portrayal of Frank Lucas. I sit in doubt of whether or not I, as the viewer, should have remorse or sympathize with his character's violent ways. Yes, his mentor/father ... read more Posted on 12/18/07 by: BrandiL Comments (0 ) Go Fly A Kite
Review of The Kite Runner
A magnificent tale about friendship, family, love and redemption. Especially among so many non-actors and international actors, the story moves along rather well, due to the fine direction of Marc Forster. Have truly been impressed with Forster's last few offerings, Finding Neverland and Stranger Than Fiction. I have not read ... read more Posted on 12/18/07 by: dougiejr3 Comments (0 ) Washington's Second Pic As Helmer Misfires Greatly
Review of Great Debaters
Denzel Washington is one of those actors (we call them stars) who is a performative relative of the director-as-auteur; that is to say, his performances are continually self-referential and share common traits. Denzel Washington doesn't play characters; he plays himself. The Great Debaters, the second film that he has directed, ... read more Posted on 12/16/07 by: ZacharyWigon Comments (0 ) Yay White People!
Review of Juno
Unlike the macho Thank You For Smoking, Jason Reitman’s latest film, Juno, is a more feminine indie comedy complete with an animated title sequence, thrift-store costume design, and a twee soundtrack featuring Kimya Dawson, the Moldy Peaches, and Belle & Sebastian. Juno, the film’s protagonist, is a sharp, precocious, Daria-like ... read more Posted on 12/15/07 by: Lord Grimmak Comments (0 ) Dancing and Sex
Review of Romance and Cigarettes
Can't say I was ready for Tony Soprano singing, nor was I ready for Kate Winslet's turn as a prostitute - also singing, but I WAS pleasantly surprised by the amazing movie that enveloped this story of cheating, sex, love, and family. Susan Sarandon, Mandy Moore, and the above mentioned ... read more Posted on 12/14/07 by: dougiejr3 Comments (0 ) Nominated Indeed
Review of Atonement
Incredible movie - and really stunning in its depiction of the novel of the same title. Knightley and McAvoy surely deserve their Golden Globe Nominations and perform at the height of their potential here, depicting lovers separated by a lie and the lives that are each lived in Atonement due ... read more Posted on 12/14/07 by: dougiejr3 Comments (0 ) Kiera does it again!
Review of Atonement
Other than the slow parts (1 or 2) this movie was excellent. The cinimatography was awesome and it was different in the sequence of each scene. The characters were deep and intriguing and the plot has a nice twist at the end. I just saw today that it got 7 ... read more Posted on 12/13/07 by: quelbellrw Comments (0 ) Optimistic, un-cynical and totally charming
Review of The World's Fastest Indian
In the often toxic climate of current events, some old-school inspiration can feel pretty good. The Capra-esque elements come together just about perfectly in 2005's "The World's Fastest Indian," the life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who, in 1967, -- at age 68 -- set a land-speed world record ... read more Posted on 12/11/07 by: garagista1 Comments (0 ) Atonement
Review of Atonement
Monday, December 10, 2007 Atonement This movie’s theme has been used by all the Soap Opera writers in all and every one of the languages of this Earth This came with a Britt’s stamp: Proper The movie is properly dull, is properly boring and is properly un-engaging. Also, I noticed ... read more Posted on 12/10/07 by: josenewman Comments (0 ) City of Fraud
Review of City of God
This is only watchable because it takes place in brazil. There are short attempts at cinematography, but mostly I think the video people were on too many drugs to know what they were doing. Posted on 12/09/07 by: MoltenRat Comments (3 ) This Compass Points South
Review of The Golden Compass
Allright, I'm going to go against my normal persuasion of posting independent reviews and post this one. It really is a discussion worth opening. The Golden Compass was an adequate movie - by regular movie standards. I wasn't cheering for the heroes as much, as I was, in say, The ... read more Posted on 12/08/07 by: dougiejr3 Comments (0 ) Graphic Content
Review of Helvetica
I am not entirely sure if Helvetica would be enjoyed by those not into typography and design, but frankly, I don't even understand how people could not be into typography and design. Serif versus sans serif! Uniform type versus graphic expression! This is fascinating stuff! If that last paragraph had ... read more Posted on 12/08/07 by: Aaron Comments (2 ) Texgotham
Review of Atonement
This film is impressive and will leave you thinking. I was left with the question: Can rationalization substitue for atonement? It is a romance with elements of a number of stories and films interwoven into the plot. The story revolves around three characters: Keira Knightly as Cecilia, James McAvoy as ... read more Posted on 12/07/07 by: Texgotham Comments (0 ) Like the city in Alaska? No, MUCH better!
Review of Juno
Amazingly acted by a teriffic cast! This movie really shines! Give it past the first twenty minutes and you will not only find one of the sharpest, wittiest, and funniest movies of the year, but you will also find characters that are endearing, struggling, and pounding out breakthrough performances! Ellen ... read more Posted on 12/06/07 by: dougiejr3 Comments (0 ) Andrew Jenks, Room 335 (Documentary)
Review of Andrew Jenks, Room 335
This film was produced for HBO. The director and star is Andrew Jenks, a 19 year old college sophomore who managed to get admitted to Harbor Place, an asssted living ccommunity in St. Lucie, Florida. He was assigned to Room 335 and began filming the lives of the residents, all ... read more Posted on 12/05/07 by: Texgotham Comments (0 ) Dirty Pretty Things
Review of Dirty Pretty Things
How would you react if you were a hotel porter and you found a heart clogging a toilet in one of the rooms of the hotel? What if on top of that you were an illegal immigrant afraid of deportation so going to the police is your last option? That’s ... read more Posted on 12/05/07 by: matt2648 Comments (0 ) Birgman rules
Review of The Passion of Anna
This movie was so awesome. Posted on 12/03/07 by: TonyP2 Comments (0 ) |
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