SEASON OF THE WITCH
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  Year Released: 2011 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 113 minutes |
We need a serious suspension of disbelief to accept these two aging actors as faultless warriors in tip-top shape…
Posted on January 7, 2011 by Matthew Sorrento
NIGHT CATCHES US
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  Year Released: 2010 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
Writer-director Tanya Hamilton has crafted an intriguing narrative even if she struggles to realize it onscreen…
Posted on December 24, 2010 by Matthew Sorrento
SKYLINE
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  Year Released: 2010 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 110 minutes |
“Skyline,” if not always successful, refashions the modern alien invasion motif as the hopeless siege that it should be…
Posted on November 26, 2010 by Matthew Sorrento
TRUTH OR DARE? A CRITICAL MADNESS
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  Year Released: 2010 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 87 minutes |
The cornball synthesizer score and hammy amateur performances will have thirtysomethings recalling fond, bygone viewings…
Posted on August 17, 2010 by Matthew Sorrento
“I DON’T INTELLECTUALIZE IT TOO MUCH”: INTERVIEW WITH RYAN DUNN
Sitting down with Ryan Dunn, star of the television series “Jackass” and “Viva La Bam,” is like meeting up with an old high school buddy who’s kept the party alive ever since. Dunn talks about his new film, “Living Will,” and his career in television, movies, and everything in between…
Posted on June 9, 2010 by Matthew Sorrento
NICHOLAS RAY’S BIGGER THAN LIFE: CRITERION COLLECTION (DVD)
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Year Released: 2010 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 95 minutes |
As far as the narrative goes, drop the “Reefer” and call this film “Cortisone Madness”…
Posted on April 21, 2010 by Matthew Sorrento
MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW: CRITERION COLLECTION (DVD)
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  Year Released: 2010 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 92 minutes |
The early Hollywood studio system loved to sensationalize. A property rooted in character would turn melodramatic for the populace, making true drama a rarity for the time. Leo McCarey’s “Make Way for Tomorrow” (1937) is this kind of rarity…
Posted on February 24, 2010 by Matthew Sorrento
MEAT LOAF “BAT OUT OF HELL”: THE ORIGINAL TOUR (DVD)
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Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 89 minutes |
If there’s a purgatory for wedding haters, I’d guess that Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” is on the soundtrack loop.
Posted on December 2, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CINE: INTERVIEW WITH BRIGHT LIGHTS EDITOR GARY MORRIS
Having published a new anthology of interviews, Bright Lights Film Journal editor Gary Morris talks about film culture, online criticism, and the interview as a form of commentary…
Posted on November 30, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 87 minutes |
Critics galore are fawning over Wes Anderson’s move to animation. Why all the fuss? – the man’s been staging puppet shows for years.
Posted on November 25, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION (1953-58): THE CRITERION COLLECTION SET
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 127 minutes |
The high-pressure environment of live television was described as “Summer Stock in an iron lung.” Perhaps the programs’ invigorating style required such energy.
Posted on November 24, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
PROMETHEUS TRIUMPHANT: A FUGUE IN THE KEY OF FLESH
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Year Released: 2008 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 79 minutes |
Shortchanging on plot, the film is still a fun celebration of a classical tradition.
Posted on November 19, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
NEW BLOOD FOR “NEW MOON”: INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL CUDMORE AND CHARLEY BEWLEY
Having stopped at Philadelphia as part of their press run for “New Moon,” these actors seemed delighted to be on the “Twilight” juggernaut.
Posted on November 16, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
PIRATE RADIO
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Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 127 minutes |
Things start sinking by the opening minutes.
Posted on November 13, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
LUIS BUNUEL’S DEATH IN THE GARDEN (DVD)
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Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 100 minutes |
One of the masters of cinema continually thrills because he grabs us from the outside (i.e., through social commentary) and the inside (by tapping into the psychological).
Posted on November 8, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento