Features
Monday, January 23 2012
The 40 Best Films of 2011
2011 was a year of good, not necessarily great, films, though the amazing choices by our staff might argue against such a overall cinematic classification.
Friday, January 13 2012
The Best Indie / International Films of 2011
The year's best independent and international films are highlighted by a duo from iconic director Werner Herzog, a staggeringly brilliant frontier-western and a score of top-notch documentaries that illustrate how filmmaking continues to reach new highs.
Friday, August 12 2011
The 100 Essential Directors Part 4: Samuel Fuller - John Huston
On our fourth day, this journey through the 100 Essential Film Directors continues to twist and turn in unexpected ways. From bold, opinionated Hollywood voices to those who essentially created the language of cinema, today will shed light on kings of genre like Samuel Fuller, through lions like the legendary John Huston.
Tuesday, February 1 2011
Missed Movies of 2010, Part 2: Life During Wartime to Wild Grass
In our second half of 2010's overlooked offerings, we champion West Virginia 'white' trash, a mafia musical, the goriest (and goofiest) spring break ever, a trip to a town called Panic, and one unfairly dismissed, should have been an Oscar nominee mainstream hit from Ben Affleck.
Friday, January 8 2010
The Best 30 Films of 2009
In one of the rarest rating periods ever, several on the staff could successfully argue for any of the Top 30 choices as a potential number one. While not all classics, they remain the consistent cream of 2009's crop.
Reviews
Wednesday, December 7 2011
'Cave of Forgotten Dreams': Is an Uneven, but Intriguing Tale
Werner Herzog finds a way to speculate on spiritual matters and remain genuine while making theoretical leaps.
Friday, November 11 2011
Werner Herzog Stuns Again with 'Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life'
This is the abyss the film shows, the frightening arbitrariness of the death penalty. People are born into poverty and violence by chance, and their fates -- as crime victims or victims of the state -- are also functions of chance.
Friday, April 29 2011
'Cave of Forgotten Dreams': Thirty Thousand Years 3-D
Cave of Forgotten Dreams not only records the exquisite Chauvet paintings with the additional depth enabled by stereoscopy, but also proves how well 3-D suits the intimacy of documentary, and by implication, smaller dramatic films.
Monday, November 23 2009
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
This bad lieutenant's pain is less punishment than righteous realignment, a reflection of the nutty, debased, and utterly chaotic world around him. He's not deviant. He's the new normal.
Wednesday, June 11 2008
Encounters at the End of the World
The most noble pursuits, Encounters at the End of the World suggests, are reverent communions and painstaking observations of wild life.
Blogs
Friday, September 16 2011
Toronto International Film Festival 2011: 'Into the Abyss'
In his documentaries especially, Herzog throws the supposed regulations out completely, ditching any pretense toward objectivity or “documentation” for a decidedly first-person perspective
Tuesday, January 11 2011
Werner Herzog Goes 3D with 'Caves of Forgotten Dreams'
The wildly eclectic Bavarian, my personal favorite of all film directors, Werner Herzog will be releasing a new documentary in 2011. It is called Caves…
Sunday, October 3 2010
When Werner Met David: 'My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?'
Undeniably quirky, but also very effective from a straight dramatic standpoint, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? argues for Herzog's continued viability as one of the great filmmakers of the post-modern age.
Saturday, December 19 2009
Herzog's 'Bad' is Oh So Good!
Werner Herzog is crazy. He's a maverick's maverick. Not only does he march to the unique beat of his own idiosyncratic drummer, he preps and…
Friday, September 4 2009
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? dir. Werner Herzog (trailer)
Since 1987's Cobra Verde, Werner Herzog has directed just two feature films in the ensuing twenty two years -- Invincible (2001) and Rescue Dawn (2007),…
News
Monday, November 21 2011
Werner Herzog: Exploring death row, in compelling detail
LOS ANGELES — For years I’ve labored under the misapprehension that Werner Herzog was simply what we in the film trade would call an auteur…
Thursday, June 26 2008
Warner Herzog describes his new nature documentary as 'a comedy'
The new documentary from the eccentric German director Werner Herzog, "Encounters at the End of the World," is not your typical nature film. Invited by…
