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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
23379 |
| Total Ratings: |
242404 |
| Total Reviews: |
25222 |
![[105788782 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?105788782)
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| BERNIE |
"The Trouble With Marjorie"
Peter Sobczynski says... "The great Coen Brothers film "Fargo," you will recall, opened with a title card assuring viewers that the story they were about to see was true but that some details were changed in order to protect the privacy of the victims. It turned out, of course, that this was just another jape on the part of the Coens but for months afterwards, many people were still of the belief that all the stuff that happened on the screen actually occurred in real life. In hindsight, it sounds a little silly but on the other hand, I can understand why this notion took hold and persisted for so long--the story that the Coens had created was so fascinating and well-developed and the characters populating it were so quirky and compelling, especially in comparison with most other movies, that it was easy to believe that it was all real. Watching "Bernie," the latest film from Richard Linklater, I found myself thinking about "Fargo" a lot and in a good way. Like "Fargo," it tells a tale made up of equal parts crime drama, dark comedy and wry sociological study and features a group of absolutely fascinating characters at its core. Unlike "Fargo," the events seen on the screen apparently did happen back in 1996 (the year that "Fargo" came out, curiously enough) and while I cannot vouch 100% for its authenticity in every single regard, I can assure you that, like "Fargo," it feels utterly real throughout even during its strangest moments (and there are plenty of them to behold). I can also assure you that it is pretty much brilliant from start to finish and while I suspect that it is likely to get lost amidst the shuffle of summer behemoths coming down the bath, it seems highly unlikely that it won't go down as one of the best films of the year." (more)
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| BATTLESHIP |
"All Hands On Dreck"
Peter Sobczynski says... "When it was first announced that toy manufacturer Hasbro intended on following the success of its previous playroom-to-screen transfers of their "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers" properties with an jumbo-sized cinematic translation of the venerable board game "Battleship," the news was met with a near-universal degree of disdain bordering on downright hostility. After all, while the "Transformers" series and "G.I. Joe" were remarkably awful, the notion of making up stories involving them was not that great of a stretch--they ere basically much more expensive and elaborate version of what little kids had been doing with them since they first hit the market. However, a board game is an entirely different kettle of fish because you can't really invent different stories for such a thing in the way that you can with a set of action figures--you follow the instructions, one person wins, everyone else loses and that's that. "Battleship" is even more complicated in this regard because it doesn't contain an elaborate premise or backstory and it doesn't bring much of anything of value to the table other than a recognizable name." (more)
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| DICTATOR, THE |
"The Not-So-Great Dictator"
Brett Gallman says... "“The Dictator” opens with a dedication to the late, not-so-great Kim Jong-il; that’s the joke, of course: that the North Korean tyrant was a terrible human being, so it’s funny to make a film that spoofs a composite of our most infamous contemporary dictators--right? As it turns out, that’s pretty much the entire punch-line to “The Dictator,” and, while occasionally funny, it attacks with the precision of a scud missile--and often with the force of one too." (more)
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| QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, THE |
"The recession hits everybody... differently."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2012: Times are tough for everybody, although "tough" can be a relative concept. The further you get from the bottom, not only does it get further from what many would consider really difficult, but harder to sympathize, at least in the abstract. "The Queen of Versailles" aims to make the abstract specific, and if not sympathetic, at least interesting." (more)
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| RUBBERNECK |
"Neither a thriller nor a look at a broken mind should be this dull."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2012: It doesn't happen very often, but "Rubberneck" is almost too simple to classify. It's got characteristics of both a thriller and an indie drama of the character-study variety, but the only thing that seems unique about it is the setting, which doesn't contribute much to making the action interesting." (more)
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| DICTATOR, THE |
"Duck This"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Shock comedian Sacha Baron Cohen may have exhausted his collection of tried-and-true characters that he developed on his acclaimed "Da Ali G Show" and brought to the big screen with varying results in such vehicles as the barely remembered "Ali G Indahouse ," the amusing-if-overrated international smash "Borat" and the simply awful "Bruno" but to judge from his latest effort, "The Dictator," he hasn't retired either his basic schtick or, in several circumstances, the jokes themselves. Like his earlier efforts, this is a film that wants to mine laughs from having its lead character saying and doing things that would have been unthinkable in a major motion picture only a few years ago and mine controversy from the outrage that the material might inspire from more sensitive quarters. However, based on the extremely uneven end results here, Cohen may want to seriously considering mixing things up for his next project because his once-anarchistic approach has grown increasingly stiff and formulaic over time and while there are still some very funny moments here and there, "The Dictator" contains more than a whiff of equal parts deja vu and desperation throughout and even though it clocks in at only an anemic and well-padded 75 minutes before the end credits begin rolling, even Cohen's biggest supporters may find themselves checking their watches here and there trying to figure out how much longer it has to go." (more)
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| PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE |
"... and with a new friend."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2012: It's okay to look at the title of "Paul Williams Still Alive" and have a reaction somewhere between dismissal and dread. Documentaries about musicians who have faded into obscurity in part due to substance abuse are so common that festivals might as well list them as their own program. This one, at least, finds a couple of ways to present things differently, although the results are a somewhat mixed bag." (more)
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| DARK SHADOWS (2012) |
"Fun throwback."
Rob Gonsalves says... "If there’s anything remotely goth-flavored in our culture untouched by Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, just wait a while; they’ll get around to it." (more)
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FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW: EIGHT ARMS TO HOLD YOU (AMONG OTHER THINGS)
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Please enjoy short reviews of the Chloe Grace Moretz vehicle "Hick," the Morgan Spulock documentary "Mansome," the restored version of the 1981 cult classic "Possession" and the estrogen-heavy "What to Expect When You're Expecting." Granted, you may not enjoy the movies that much but I hope you at least enjoy the reviews." (more) |
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CRITICWATCH - THE DARK SHADOWS OF FILM CRITICISM
by Erik Childress |
| "One of the seemingly lost attributes of film criticism these days is perspective. I was tempted to call it an "art" signifying it as some rare gift possessed by only the most elite of snob-tastic film scholars, but why add to the War On Intelligence that is occurring in this country. Truth is, perspective is not a hard art to grasp. It should actually be a rather common trait in your average film critic, lest they be too quick on the draw to declare something fresh in their mind as an equal to something that has taken up over a decade of space in the comparative gland of their cranium. More and more though, whether it be someone on the festival circuit or another just trying to draw hits to their website the need to hyperbolize the latest and presumed greatest, this practice has bled into the mainstream. By even critics who normally do not even earn the title of quote whore here at Criticwatch. And they can do with a little bit of perspective as well, looking no further than the latest film by a once-revered director that, sadly, also lacks its own perspective." (more) |
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'MULDER, TOADS JUST FELL FROM THE SKY!'
- Dana Scully, X-Files
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