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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
17343 |
| Total Ratings: |
211137 |
| Total Reviews: |
21265 |
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| GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON |
"No Bat Country For Old Men"
Peter Sobczynski says... "The standard rap on the late and legendary scribe Hunter S. Thompson is that during his heyday (a period roughly spanning the later 1960’s through the end of the 1970’s) he wrote three great books (“Hell’s Angels,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72”), several equally impressive pieces of short-form writing for magazines like “Rolling Stone“ (many of which were collected in the anthology “The Great Shark Hunt” and rewrote the rules of his particular racket with the development of what would be dubbed “gonzo journalism”--an intense form of first-person reportage in which the writer became a central and active participant in the proceedings they were covering instead of merely standing aside as a passive observer--but when that heyday ended, he became lost in a fog of booze and drugs that sapped his creative juices to such an extent that he spent the next quarter-century as a prisoner to his self-created image as a wild man in his remote cabin in Woody Creek, Colorado who virtually nothing worth reading before ending it all with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head in 2005. In recent years, both before and after his death, there have been a slew of documentaries and biographies on Thompson that have perpetuated his cartoonish (literally, thanks to Garry Trudeau’s Uncle Duke character in “Doonesbury”) persona at the expense of his considerable achievements as a writer by focusing on the binges and the weirdness instead of the work. At first, the new film “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson” seems as though it is going to buck this tide by opening with quotes not from one of his legendary pieces, but from a column he wrote on September 11, 2001 for ESPN.com, of all places, in which he coolly and presciently predicted virtually everything that would happen in the next few years only a few hours after the Twin Towers collapsed. It is a nervy start but unfortunately, it is pretty much the only unexpected moment in a film that pretty much winds up reinforcing the standard school of thought on Thompson’s life and work instead offering any new thoughts or ideas on the subject." (more)
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| SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO |
"There's been spaghetti westerns, so why not a sujiyaki western?"
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2008 FANTASIA FESTIVAL: As much as I love Takashi Miike for being an outrageous filmmaker who does unpredictable things, I sometimes wonder if that can be a double-edged sword. "Sukiyaki Western Django" is unabashedly a gimmick movie; if you've heard about it at all it's probably for all the crazy things that Miike and company do. The thing you might not expect is that there's a darn near great spaghetti western not far underneath the craziness. Yes, it's easy to love this movie as camp, and I wouldn't trade any of the insanity away, but it's easy to overlook the fact that this movie would be pretty cool without the swordplay, schizophrenic sheriff, or that weird baby-in-a-flower image." (more)
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| SAD VACATION |
"Nobody hurts you more than family."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2008 NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL: I don't know if Japan has the old saying that you can choose your friends but not your family, though that idea is at the heart of "Sad Vacation". That doesn't mean that people won't try, though, with decidedly mixed results." (more)
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| HANCOCK |
"Peter Berg gets one halfway right"
brianorndorf says... "I’m not used to writing a statement like this, so please forgive me if I pass out from the shock of disbelief: Peter Berg’s direction saves “Hancock.” There, it’s out on the page for the world to see. Clearly the cinema gods are pleased with me, because I just watched a Peter Berg film and I didn’t want to punch the screen afterwards." (more)
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| BRICK LANE |
"A lovely take on the aching heart"
brianorndorf says... "“Brick Lane” is a melodrama, but it’s crafted with such fascinating compassion and care for moments of heart-twisting domestic compromise that it’s easy to forgive a few narrative bumps and a handful of familiarity." (more)
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| WHERE I STAND |
"We Can All Hope To Stand Beside Hank Greenspun"
Erik Childress says... "SCREENED AT THE 2008 CINEVEGAS FILM FESTIVAL: To me, the name of “Greenspun” had always fit into a very narrow definition. Sure, as a journalist myself to a certain degree, I knew the familial patriarch, Hank, for his years of service to the Las Vegas Sun but anytime I heard the surname my brain immediately registered the family’s connection to the roots of the CineVegas Film Festival. So when I heard that 2008’s tenth anniversary was going to be premiering a documentary about Mr. Hank Greenspun, there was the associated trepidation that it was going to be an unapologetic love letter with a leg up among the festival’s programmers. The lovefest part was certainly true, but that couldn’t be helped. Who would even want to find flaws within a life as well spent as this? As Hank’s history is told through the inner monologue of Anthony Hopkins and shaped by Scott Goldstein, like me you will have the feeling that you’re watching one of the greatest stories you’ve never been told unfold with all the twists of a great spy thriller." (more)
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| HANCOCK |
"The best superhero flick since....well, since Iron Man."
Mel Valentin says... "Less than nine months after Will Smith saved the world from a mutated virus (or rather a character he played saved the world), actor Will Smith is back in "Hancock," this time playing a dissolute, destitute, bad-tempered superhero, John Hancock. Directed by Peter Berg ("The Kingdom," "Friday Night Lights," "The Rundown," "Very Bad Things") and written by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, "Hancock" resembles a certain spandex-loving superhero who first made an appearance seventy years ago, Superman, with a backstory inspired by Jack Kirby’s work for DC and Marvel Comics in the 1970s (saying more would involve spoilers, unfortunately). An often awkward mix of broad comedy, straight drama, and superhero action, "Hancock" is definitely flawed, but it benefits from a continuity-free storyline, engaging turns from a talented cast (no surprise there), and the presence of thematic depth (definitely a surprise)." (more)
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| HANCOCK |
"With great eye candy comes mediocre filmmaking"
Lybarger says... "The script for “Hancock” has been bouncing around Hollywood since 1996, continually being revised and reworked for a staggering variety of studios, directors and stars. And it’s certainly evident in the final film." (more)
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DVD REVIEWS FOR 7/4: BARRACUDA!
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "In which your faithful critic takes a look at one of the best TV shows of 2007 and 2008, examines the homicidal rampages enacted by a ventriloquist’s dummy and Winona Ryder and revels in the glory that is Chuck Norris beating the crap out of people in the name of duty and humanity." (more) |
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DVD REVIEW: XANADU - MAGICAL MUSIC EDITION
by Brian Orndorf |
| "Someone somewhere had the nutty idea to connect the music from the 1940s to the music of the late 1970s, and explore that combustible relationship to fashion the ultimate disco movie of 1980. It was the year that gave us “Flash Gordon,” “Can’t Stop the Music,” and “The Apple,” yet “Xanadu” trumped them all with its pageantry of glitter, roller skating, and yearning to put on a show larger than life to kick off the new decade on a skyrocketing fantastical note of nylon-jumpsuited ecstasy." (more) |
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DVD REVIEW: CINEMATIC TITANIC - DOOMSDAY MACHINE
by Brian Orndorf |
| "It certainly took the gang at Cinematic Titanic enough time to regroup, but the six-month wait between episodes was worth the unbearable impatience. Backing away after the release of “The Oozing Skull” to reassess their strengths and weaknesses, Titanic storms back with “Doomsday Machine,” and while the series is starting to solidify pleasingly, the movie selection for this outing is perhaps too formidable for even this squad of ace comedians to conquer with quips." (more) |
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'YOU KNOW, MR. THATCHER, AT THE RATE OF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, I'LL HAVE TO CLOSE THIS PLACE IN... 60 YEARS.'
- Charles Foster Kane, Citizen Kane
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