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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
23378 |
| Total Ratings: |
242371 |
| Total Reviews: |
25218 |
![[105743298 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?105743298)
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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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| REVISIONARIES, THE |
"A look at how ideology enters the curriculum - with its own agenda."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2012: It's easy to hear a phrase like "culture wars" and think that it's over-stating the matter; most people, most of the time, stick to their own thing, grouse that there's not more that reflects their beliefs and tastes, and leave it at that. But as "The Revisionaries" demonstrates, it's a very real thing, and one of the front lines is the Texas State Board of Education." (more)
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| NESTING |
"At that stage where things could go either way."
Jay Seaver says... ""Nesting" is a nice enough little indie comedy that does nobody any harm and has the occasional pretty decent moment. That's a nice starting point, but the movie could use a little bit more of everything, from resources to rewrites." (more)
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| PIRATES!, THE: BAND OF MISFITS |
"What's wrong with 'An Adventure with Scientists?' Not a lot."
Jay Seaver says... "It's a bit of a puzzle to fans of the medium (and quality family movies) that Aardman Animation is not more popular in the U.S. Is it just too British? It can't be the quality of their work - even something like "The Pirates!", which isn't quite as brilliant as "Chicken Run" or their Wallace & Gromit pieces, has a tremendously impressive amount of quality packed into every frame and the animation thereof." (more)
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| DARK SHADOWS (2012) |
"Welcome To Collinwood"
Peter Sobczynski says... "With its clearly rushed production schedule, actors who seemed to be cast largely for their looks than for their talent, a large cast of characters who all seemed to be holding lurid secrets that would invariably be unveiled whenever things began to lag and plot twists and developments that often boggled the mind and other organs, "Dark Shadows" was in many ways similar to the other soap operas with which it shared afternoon airtime with during its original 1966-1971 run. The difference is that while the other shows only featured metaphorical monsters--adulterers, bigamists, rapists, fancy lads and the like--"Dark Shadows" had actual monsters at its core--witches, werewolves, ghosts, ghouls and, at the center of it all, a 200-year-old vampire by the name of Barnabas Collins (played by the great Jonathan Frid, who passed away just a couple of weeks ago) who returns to his family home as a distant relative while still suffering from the throes of a still-potent curse. Of course, in the wake of stuff like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Vampire Diaries"--not to mention all that "Twilight" crap--the fusion of soap operatics and the supernatural may not sound that unusual but it was a big deal back in the day and while the show was never a blockbuster hit like "General Hospital," it did amass a loyal cult following during its original run and later on in syndication. In subsequent years, there were a couple of attempts to revive it but they never quite took--whatever producer Dan Curtis was able to accomplish the first time around proved difficult to replicate and, like many of the characters that would appear on it over the years, the show eventually faded into the ether." (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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INTERVIEW: ANDREW DAVIS ON "STONY ISLAND"
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "The Oscar-nominated director of such hits as "Under Siege" and "The Fugitive" recounts the production of his very first movie, the 1978 musical-comedy-drama "Stony Island" on the occasion of its long-overdue home video debut." (more) |
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'I WANT TO GO ON RECORD RIGHT NOW, THAT THIS IS THE MOST STUPID, DIMWITTED, IDIOTIC, MORONIC PIECE OF PUTRIFIED GARBAGE THAT I HAVE EVER IN MY ENTIRE PROFESSIONAL CAREER, EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE OF BEING INVOLVED WITH.'
- Chris Lecce, Another Stakeout
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