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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
32492 |
| Total Ratings: |
249484 |
| Total Reviews: |
28453 |
![[188209393 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?188209393)
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| EMMA (2020) |
"The Meddler"
Peter Sobczynski says... "For those keeping score at home, Jane Austen’s “Emma” has served as the basis for three big-screen adaptations (including the delightful 1995 updating “Clueless”), eight television versions, 2 web series, numerous stage and print variations and even a 2015 manga for good measure. As a result, there are some who might treat the arrival of yet another version with a shrug, assuming that it is little more than an excuse have actors gadding about in period finery in the service of an all-too-familiar property. This would be their loss because while “Emma.” may not necessarily reinvent or reinvigorate the source material as Greta Gerwig did with her recent adaptation of “Little Women,” it nevertheless presents it with plenty of humor and high spirits and style to spare." (more)
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| CALL OF THE WILD, THE (2019) |
"A cast this good deserves real dogs."
Jay Seaver says... "It's a good thing that the preview for the latest adaptation of "The Call of the Wild" played before seemingly every movie to hit theaters in the last couple of months, if only to give potential viewers a head start on wrestling with the conflicting reactions the film seems designed to create: It's a handsome, family-oriented adventure film that feels almost like a throwback except for one modern element - the animal characters being realized with digital animation - that can't help but stick out like a sore thumb. So much of the film works, but there's a big piece smack in the middle that one's brain rejects." (more)
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| BLOOD QUANTUM |
"A new-enough twist on the zombie apocalypse."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT BOSTON SCI-FI FILM FESTIVAL 45: "Blood Quantum" feels less like a movie than what you'd get if you took the pilot to a television series about the zombie apocalypse and edited it together with the first-season finale, and even if it was a good show, that probably wouldn't be the best way to experience it, at least the first time around. There's a big hole in the middle that can't be filled, and just a general feeling that you can't make the story mean something if you don't tell the whole thing from beginning to end." (more)
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| TREAD |
"It's hard to look away from a man angry enough to build a tank."
Jay Seaver says... "How many people are going to get to see "Tread" in a theater with an audience? Probably not many, but the reaction is an interesting phenomenon to watch, as people who had spent the previous hour growing more horrified by the paranoia and rage that lead to a rampage find themselves laughing or showing a tight sort of grin as the film hits its climax and the aggrieved subject starts going to town with a customized bulldozer. Are we just wired to respond to people taking creative action, the audacious absurdity overriding how toxic it actually is? For better or worse, that impulse makes this movie something that's hard to look away from." (more)
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| PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE |
"Lookers"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Now that this year’s Oscar derby has come to its blessed conclusion, I suppose that it turned out pretty well for the most part. Sure, the notion of “Jojo Rabbit” getting the Adapted Screenplay award over Greta Gerwig’s brilliant take on “Little Women” was deeply embarrassing and I suspect that the collective delusion that Joaquin Phoenix actually won his Best Actor prize for “Walk the Line” or “The Master” instead of his hammy turn in “Joker” has already begun. For the most part, however, things went pretty well and the unexpected triumph of “Parasite” over the late-surging mediocrity of “1917” was a legitimate thrill, especially coming from the same body that awarded Best Picture to the likes of “Green Book” only one year before. However, there is one embarrassment that may indeed raise eyebrows in the future and it is the fact that “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” the rapturous romance from French filmmaker Celine Sciamma, failed to receive even a single nomination, let alone an award. From a purely analytical standpoint, this shutout is somewhat understandable—France, in a deeply questionable move, elected to put forth the immensely forgettable “Les Miserables” for the International Film Oscar instead of it and its American distributor, essentially decided to put all of its eggs into backing its other horse of the season, which just happened to be “Parasite.” If there is a consolation to all this, it is that long after all the Oscar derby details have faded from memory, viewers will still avidly be watching it and swooning over its emotional impact." (more)
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| LONG WALK, THE (2019) |
"A man should listen to his ghosts, even when they don't speak."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT BOSTON SCI-FI FILM FESTIVAL 45: A fair amount of people might think "The Long Walk" takes too much time to get to the good stuff, as the really tricky genre material doesn't show up until halfway through. It's a fair critique if that's all you want from the movie, but it's a rich experience getting there." (more)
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| RIDE YOUR WAVE |
"Brings both fire and flow."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2019 FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: As Masaki Yuasa's output increases, he seems to be moving away from the strange and trippy films that gained him attention and toward the conventional, though if the result is something like this sweet animated romance, that's not a bad thing. It's still distinctive and occasionally eccentric, and winds up being something fairly unique once the bits of fantasy there are kick in." (more)
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| ENTER THE FAT DRAGON (2020) |
"Donnie doesn't really need the fat suit to punch and kick a bunch of yakuza"
Jay Seaver says... "This colorful, fast-paced bit of kung fu silliness works well enough that I'm not sure why they bothered to put Donnie Yen in a fat suit. It really doesn't affect how he moves or the story at all, and there aren't even that many jokes at the expense of his character's weight. Did someone just have the remake rights to Sammo Hung's film and figure it would add 5% to the take or something?" (more)
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SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2020 & THE DOCS THAT STOOD OUT
by Erik Childress |
| "Every year I am curious about what of interest may come out of the Slamdance Film Festival. After all, this is the fest that ceremoniously accepted Kurt Kuenne’s Dear Zachary after Sundance foolishly rejected it. (I saw it at SXSW later that year.) Last year there was a little sci-fi gem called The Vast of Night that you can soon see on Amazon Prime. This year, there was not much to speak of amongst the narratives. Most of them consisted of characters doing random things hoping to draw us into their world of loneliness or confusion and they all started to bleed together until I clotted up. But there were some standouts on the documentary front and I chose to highlight four of them." (more) |
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FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW: WINDED
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Please enjoy short reviews of "Beanpole," "My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising," "Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band" and "Seberg."" (more) |
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'YOU KNOW SOMETHING, JAKE, YOU MIGHT THINK YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE BUT... YOU DON'T.'
- Jake Berman, The Two Jakes
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