Sunday, August 2 2009
Bad Lieutenant
This film plays out as a dispassionate, keen-eyed character study that happens to contain a ton of swearing, sex, and horrible violence.
Wednesday, July 29 2009
For All Mankind
One wonders, when watching Al Reinert’s historic 1989 documentary on space travel, what happened to the relevance it tries so desperately to depict.
Monday, July 27 2009
Necessary Evil
This has none of the fluidity and irony of a successful parody or genre send-up like Repo Man.
Tuesday, July 21 2009
Bye Bye Monkey
A unique type of puzzle; where the goal is not to fit the pieces together, but to learn to accept that it does not have a solution.
Monday, July 20 2009
Circle of Iron
This exploration of Zen and the art of bountiful butt kicking is by far the most personal movie Bruce Lee never made
Wise Blood
Though a complex and fascinating misfire, this cements Huston as not only one of the greatest adapters of literature, but also one of the most artistically experimental.
Sunday, July 19 2009
Mystery Science Theater 3000: XV
You can't have comic greatness without a foundation of funny business -- there's more to this teenage whiz kid than bad glasses and false bravado.
Thursday, July 16 2009
Cinemad Almanac 2009
If this recent compilation is any indication, very little has changed in the land of the self-indulgent (and deluded) cinematic short.
Batman 20th Anniversary Edition
This is the template for the modern summer blockbuster which makes it, for better or worse, the most-influential film of the last 25 years.
Wednesday, July 15 2009
Zabriskie Point
You will not see a better distillation of the '60s and everything the decade stood for than this uncompromising artistic overview.
Tuesday, July 14 2009
Jesus’ Son
This is more a collection of well-observed moments and vignettes than a conventionally plotted chronicle.
Monday, July 13 2009
Confessions of a Shopaholic
There is something intrinsically wrong with a narrative that tells its audience to value things over thoughts.
Sunday, July 12 2009
Tokyo!
A people so lost in their own hermetic insularity that human connections seem alien and almost dangerous.
Friday, July 10 2009
My Dinner with Andre
A grand, intimate philosophical dissection of love, art, creative freedom and self-importance.
Thursday, July 9 2009
Essential Art House, Vol. 3
Clement’s near-perfect film and Wajda’s hugely influential title cannot salvage the validity of the collection as a whole.
Wednesday, July 8 2009
Lonely are the Brave
This hard to find film has long had a notable reputation. Now all fans of solid acting and literate, topical screenplays can view it on DVD.
Tuesday, July 7 2009
The Pink Panther 2
Steve Martin’s 2nd stab at resurrecting a classic features broader humor and international star power -- but is it funny?
Pic up the Mic: The Evolution of Homohop
This vibrant documentary casts light upon the duality of socio-sexual identity and identity politics.
Monday, July 6 2009
Lesbian Nation and Lavender Limelight
Two rich documentaries that reveal the diversity of lesbian filmmakers as well as their common themes and experiences.
