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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
31742 |
| Total Ratings: |
248132 |
| Total Reviews: |
28057 |
![[172656297 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?172656297)
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| ROMA (2018) |
"Believe The Hype"
Peter Sobczynski says... "In the wake of the massive success of his last film, “Gravity” (2013), which received critical raves, earned over $700,000,000 at the box-office worldwide and scored seven Oscars (including two for him personally for Directing and Editing), filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron fond himself in the rarefied position of being able to do pretty much anything he wanted to do for his next project. Oftentimes when filmmakers find themselves in this position, they talk at length about the small and deeply personal projects they would love to tackle but, more often than not, this usually turns out to be just talk and they move on to the next would-be blockbuster. In Cuaron’s case, however, he has taken advantage of this unique opportunity with a vengeance with his long-awaited follow-up, “Roma,” a film that seems to have been designed to give studio heads who would normally be eager to get in business with him advanced cases of heartburn. Here is a film that is a highly autobiographical tale with a narrative that cannot easily be summed up in a sentence or two and is in Spanish to boot, a cast led by someone who has never acted before and has been shot in both black-and-white and in 70MM, the large-screen format that most theaters are no longer equipped to present properly. To make matters even more bewildering, the film is being distributed by Netflix, which means that most of its viewers are going to wind up seeing it at home on their televisions than in theaters. It all sounds like a recipe for an auteurist boondoggle of mythic proportions that could only be avoided if the resulting film turned out to be an unquestioned, one-of-a-kind masterpiece that not only justifies all of its oddball creative decisions but makes you wonder why others don’t try them as well. Strangely enough, that is exactly what has happened in the case of “Roma,” which is quite simply one of the most dazzling, audacious and powerful cinematic experiences of the year." (more)
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| DETOUR |
"No Exit"
Peter Sobczynski says... "When “Detour” went before the cameras for its abbreviated shooting schedule in 1945, there was no indication that it would turn out to be anything more than just another programmer churned out by Producers Releasing Corporation, one of many fly-by-night studios operating on the fringes of Hollywood at the time. The screenplay seemed to have been deliberately calibrated to utilize the fewest numbers of locations and actors possible while still legally being considered a movie, leads reportedly hated each other, the director was a long way away from the time when he made one of Universal’s biggest films of 1934 and the budget was so tiny that the car in which the main characters drive around for most of the running time was apparently the director’s own personal vehicle. However, in a twist of fate more unexpected and bizarre than any of the ones depicted in its terse 68-minute running time, all of those elements managed to click together in surprisingly harmonious ways and, much like its unforgettable (in all the wrong ways) female lead, it grabbed at anyone who encountered it and refused to let go. Instead of disappearing into the pop-culture ether in the manner of so many programmers made during that time, it was sought out and discovered by subsequent generations of filmgoers—many of whom (myself included) first learned about it in the pages of Danny Peary’s invaluable book “Cult Movies”— and is now regularly cited as one of the greatest film noirs of all time. Now “Detour” has returned for another go-around in theaters via a brand-new 4K restoration (funded by the George Lucas Family Foundation) before its rumored imminent inclusion into the celebrated Criterion Collection. Granted, the idea of a cleaned-up version of the film—which didn’t exactly transcend its Poverty Row aesthetic and which has been seen almost entirely in beat-up prints whose visual scuzziness proved to be an inadvertently perfect match for the material—sounds like a weirdo cineaste joke but even though it looks better than it ever has in its entire existence, no amount of digital sandblasting can remove the darkness at its bitter heart" (more)
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| ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE |
"Insert Obligatory “Holiday Film With Bite” Headline Here"
Peter Sobczynski says... "“Anna and the Apocalypse” is a head-on collision (and a gruesome one at that) between two of the most incongruous cinematic subgeneres imaginable—the whimsical holiday narrative filled with fresh faces and deliberately ugly sweaters that can be found running around the clock on the Hallmark Channel the moment that the Thanksgiving leftovers are safely put away and the super-gory zombie spectacular filled with rotting flesh, imperfectly severed limbs and gallons of blood spilled on every available surface. There are the usual array of romantic conflicts and silly holiday decor, to be sure, but every once in a while, one of the oversized candy canes from a lawn display has to be used to skewer another undead lug before it can take a bite out of someone. If that weren’t wild enough, consider the fact that, in addition to all that, the film is also a full-scale musical to boot with the characters warbling about live and love while at the same time crushing zombie skulls in the messiest manner imaginable. At first glance, it may seem like the kind of high-concept idea that looks undeniably promising as a two-minute trailer but which rarely manages to sustain itself as a 90-minute feature. Happily, this one prove to be the exception to the rule—a weirdo cinematic stocking stuffer filled a lot of laughs, a few legitimate scares, a number of catchy tunes and some hugely winning performances." (more)
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| SUSPIRIA (2018) |
"They shouldn't have bothered."
Rob Gonsalves says... "When director Luca Guadagnino says that his film "Suspiria" is less a remake of than an homage to Dario Argento’s 1977 film of the same name, I believe him. The new "Suspiria" takes the preceding movie’s basic premise — a young American woman (Dakota Johnson) arrives at a German ballet school, and supernatural shenanigans follow — and goes very much its own way." (more)
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| UNSTOPPABLE (2018) |
"A pretty good throwback to basic "(STAR'S NAME) is (FILM TITLE)" action."
Jay Seaver says... "Ma Dong-seok is being billed as "Don Lee" for the American release of "Unstoppable
, which isn't inaccurate - his given name is actually Lee Dong-seok - but it does make one wonder if he's looking to take some roles outside of South Korea while his profile is high from "Train to Busan", "Along with the Gods", and "Champion". Hollywood would certainly be lucky to have him if so; this B-movie likely wouldn't be half as much fun without this particular big guy in the lead." (more)
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| 2.0 |
"Maybe not an upgrade, but still crazy Indian sci-fi action."
Jay Seaver says... "The long-awaited sequel to Shankar's "Enthiran" is in some ways a lot more conventional than its predecessor; with no musical numbers and no romantic comedy subplots, it's less likely to cause the sort of severe whiplash suffered by people who had never seen this sort of masala film but were looking for a big sci-fi action movie. It's still pretty bizarre for folks who don't know what they're getting into, and a lot of fun, if not the insane, jaw-dropping roller coaster its predecessor was." (more)
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| PROSPECT |
"Science fiction made messy with care."
Jay Seaver says... "A lot of independent science fiction films like "Prospect" hit the genre film festival circuit - mostly as shorts, but sometimes as features - and truth be told, many aren't very good despite the clear love for the genre and impressive effort put into creating a world with what they can find and build. What makes this one stand out is the same as what made the short version pop four years ago - not just being a notch better at creating a dingy analog future, but finding an impressive cast and building some tension there." (more)
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| RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET |
"An online experience nearly as good as that in the arcade."
Jay Seaver says... ""Ralph Breaks the Internet" may not be quite as delightful as "Wreck-It Ralph", but that's probably because its clever bits are more likely to poke fun at the present rather than dip into nostalgia, with the Disney jokes maybe a little more self-serving than self-deprecating. That was easy goodwill for the first movie, and the second has to try a little harder. Fortunately, it manages what it needs to just as well, getting a lot of laughs even as it makes a bit of an unexpected turn." (more)
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'D'YOU KNOW THAT THE HUMAN HEAD WEIGHS 8 POUNDS?'
- Ray, Jerry Maguire
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