IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY
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  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
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  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
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  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
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  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
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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
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  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
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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
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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
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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
FERRELL WAS FINE WHEN THEY SAID “EVERYTHING MUST GO”
The film allows Ferrell the chance work on his own, discovering nuance in the quiet out beyond Nick’s stormy mind. It’s a triumphant performance that promises much range from what seemed a one-burner hot plate of an actor…
Posted on May 27, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
THE HANGOVER PART II
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Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 102 minutes |
Phillips wants us to feel like the drunk guy wedged between two others in a backseat, with the car seeming to whip by, even if it’s probably a beater doing 30 mph…
Posted on May 25, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
VISION: FROM THE LIFE OF HILDEGARD VON BINGEN (DVD)
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Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 110 minutes |
When it comes to nuns onscreen, more viewers are wary than curious. Today, they too easily embody repression, their habits suggesting all they restrict from themselves and stifle within…
Posted on May 18, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
CRACKS
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  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 104 minutes |
From a Scott, especially a young one, we expect snappy scenes and editing down the high school hallways. “Cracks” begins on a quieter tone, though perversion and rivalry will find their way in…
Posted on May 16, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento