EATING RAOUL: CRITERION COLLECTION
|
  Year Released: 2012 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 83 minutes |
In an obsessively consumptive culture like America’s, the only way for a common couple to strive is through killing, then consuming…
Posted on November 25, 2012 by Matthew Sorrento
A NATURAL TO TRADITION: SPIKE LEE ON “RED HOOK SUMMER”
You could imagine Spike Lee, in his preteen years, taking in every classic movie that came on TV. In his 25-plus-year career he’s included enough allusions and genres to suggest he was raised on film history. But during a recent phone conversation, Spike says it ain’t so…
Posted on August 30, 2012 by Matthew Sorrento
GOD BLESS AMERICA
|
  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 100 minutes |
Goldthwait’s distinctive style should leave no one questioning the value of this comedian/actor-turned-filmmaker. He ponders his art and has the ability to execute ideas…
Posted on May 21, 2012 by Matthew Sorrento
GOOD FOR NOTHING
|
  Year Released: 2012 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 92 minutes |
Taking the western to glorious landscapes of New Zealand, “Good for Nothing” has an admirable spirit, even if its goals in genre treatment are puzzling…
Posted on April 10, 2012 by Matthew Sorrento
IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY
|
  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 127 minutes |
Though Jolie’s intentions seem honest, any seasoned cineaste would wonder why a debuting filmmaker would go for material as challenging as the Serbian genocide in Bosnia…
Posted on January 11, 2012 by Matthew Sorrento
THE ARTIST
|
  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 100 minutes |
It’s no small feat to inform and entertain; perhaps this is why such tributes, like the films of Guy Maddin (which often reinterpret or deconstruct the style of old) come from passion…
Posted on December 23, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
THE SKIN I LIVE IN
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 117 minutes |
How eerie and satisfying is it to see Pedro Almodóvar take on science…
Posted on November 19, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
WHERE’S DADDY? THE LEGACY OF “THE BAD SEED” (1956)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Mervyn LeRoy’s The Bad Seed (1956) premiered an anxiety that would soon blossom in the American cinema: a fear that our offspring could prove rotten, devilish…
Posted on October 31, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
REAL STEEL
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 127 minutes |
The film serves a broad audience without exploiting the classic boxing tradition…
Posted on October 7, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
HAPPY ACCIDENTS: INTERVIEW WITH FILMMAKER EVAN GLODELL ON “BELLFLOWER”
Actor-writer-director Evan Glodell made “Bellflower” over a number of years, on his own time and dollar. He speaks from experience, and yet – like many debuting filmmakers – seems caught in the headlights…
Posted on September 14, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 105 minutes |
“Rise” wears “Planet’s” mask to use “2001′s” conceit. In this sense, Franco-stein begets a monster worthy of our consideration and viewing pleasure…
Posted on August 5, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
KARATE-ROBO ZABORGAR
|
  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 101 minutes |
2011 FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL SELECTION! It’s fast, funny, and a pleasure for the eye. In my mind, that’s a triumph of popcorn-crunching entertainment…
Posted on July 29, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
FINISTERRAE
|
Year Released: 2010 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 80 minutes |
2011 PHILADELPHIA DANGER AFTER DARK FEATURE! With absurdism relying on comical irony, the film has its share of legit jokes, though we soon expect far more than the film can deliver…
Posted on July 26, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
BIRTHRIGHT
|
Year Released: 2010 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 108 minutes |
2011 PHILADELPHIA DANGER AFTER DARK FEATURE! Can a film redeem itself for excessive tedium?
Posted on July 12, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
THE LAST MOUNTAIN
|
Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 95 minutes |
This film is a case where content trumps any criticisms about the style. Haney’s film relates information with clarity sans any special flourish…
Posted on June 26, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento