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In This Dispatch:
- What's New: Once, D'oh, and much more.
- What We're Watching: Chameleon, Czech Dreams, and In Between Days.
- Explore: What's coming soon, and happy holidays!
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This little film, a modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin, may just be the best romance in recent memory. "The music is so rich and completely satisfying and the characters so appealing Once makes us believe that this is all happening right in front of our eyes," raved Kenneth Turan in the LA Times. "We fall for each of these young people at the precise moment they are falling for each other, and what could be better than that?" It's "the first rock musical that actually makes sense," adds the Boston Globe's Ty Burr. |
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The Simpsons Movie Rent 
D'oh! The Simpsons first feature movie venture was long talked about but rather than feel anticlimatic when it finally arrived (well, maybe a little) it garnered good reviews and, more importantly, a lot of laughs. "it's not just a spinoff but a wised-up family comedy that's spirited and inventive," wrote Michael Sragow. "It retains the farcical belligerence of the TV comedy but also heightens the series' oddball warmth and expands on its Hellzapoppin' slapstick." Adds Glenn Kenney: "If this is in fact merely a longer Simpsons episode, it's a damn good Simpsons episode." Oh, and Facebook members, try our new Simpsons quiz. |
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"Serious and funny," wrote Vincent Canby in the New York Times when this film made an indie splash in 1989, winning at Sundance. "In "Chameleon Street," which he also wrote and directed, [Wendell] Harris demonstrates that he's a triple-threat new film maker of original and eccentric talent. In his first feature film, he also shows he understands that the compulsion to adopt alien personalities is a lot more complex than the need to please." It wasn't the road to fame that many critics expected for Harris, but with the film finally debuting on DVD, it's a good reminder of what a memorable debut this was.
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Any movie that knocks about your most cherished belief, say, that Capitalism--or, what the hell, Communism, Christianity, the Internet, the motion picture industry--is the greatest achievement of the modern world, is to be treasured. Doubting one's dream is generally salutary, and Czech Dream leaves us doing just this—and more; this little (less-than-90-minutes) documentary is a knockout. Read full review >> |
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One of the marks of a strong film director is one who can make something greater than the sum of its parts. In Between Days has a micro budget, non-professional (teenage) actors, a bleak Toronto winter setting, very little dialogue and an entire universe of ennui all under the banner of a title taken from a Cure song. First-time writer/director So Yong Kim, already an established painter, film producer and multi-media artist, pays special attention to the visual and sound design of her feature film debut. Teaming up here with cinematographer Sarah Levy, the film has a syrupy quality that enlarges and minimizes the things happening around her to suit Aimie's emotional state. In Between Days is a well-paced yet detailed account of the day to day life of teenage immigrant at the threshold of... Read Full Review >>
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In the coming weeks you'll find some very worthy articles up on GreenCine (check out GreenCine Central for the latest), including: Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis), John Sayles, Cristian Mingui (4
Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, one of the year's best), Alex Gibney, Gregg Araki ( Smiley Face), and more. So keep your eyes on this space and on GreenCine.
Meanwhile, no newsletter over the holidays (very slow DVD releasing schedule) but we'll be working behind the scenes to make sure your new year is filled with more great movies and many more words about them. 'Til then... From all of us at GreenCine, Happy Holidays!
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Happy Holidays!
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