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GreenCine Daily's Aaron Hillis writes: "Watching the tears of joy stream down the two-million-plus cheeks in attendance of this morning's historical inauguration, my thoughts kept creeping back to Caroline Suh's vérité pop-doc Frontrunners [new to DVD today], in which four NYC teenagers campaign in a student union presidential race where 'race is a factor.' President Obama may present the face of post-racial U.S. politics, but at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, where the competition is so fierce that only the top 3% of its 25,000 applicants are accepted as students, cultural diversity has long been an asset to winning the presidency...The prescience of Frontrunners may be the happy accident of being released in this transitional era, but watching how votes are drummed up by unpolished candidates... the dynamics of electioneering have never seemed so briskly entertaining." Read more >> |
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In This Dispatch:
- What's New: El Norte, City of Ember and loads more.
- What We're Watching: King of the Hill, Ad Lib Night and I Do.
- Contests: Coraline.
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"This is not a film that looks down upon 'the noble immigrant' with self-righteous pity," raves DVD Verdict of Criterion's El Norte, "but rather a vibrant, first-hand look at a moving and challenging journey of two deeply sympathetic characters. " Gregory Nava's beloved film about a brother and sister from Guatemala, and their difficult journey to and within the United States, had long been out of print on DVD. We also recommend reading writer Hector Tobar's terrific essay on the film on the Criterion site: "Nava’s dreamlike imagery, though, is grounded by a realistic brutality...Today, El Norte endures as the epic chronicle of a journey deeply embedded in the American experience." |
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While reviews were uneven, and so is the film, we're still quite fond of Gil Kenan's fantasy, an adaptation of Jeanne Duprau's book. "If older kids and adults seek out this picture, which 20th Century Fox and Walden Media clearly aren't sure how to sell," wrote Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, "they may well find themselves drawn into a subterranean world of considerable imagination." We think of it as " Brazil for kids" and in a good way. The cast, which includes Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and the most appealing Saoirse Ronan, is a treat, too. |
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Aaron, again: "I've decided to dip into the GreenCine DVD catalog and pull out a recent-ish, little-seen gem that is NOT AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX. Film of the Week, case closed. One of my favorite if overused descriptors of a film is "deceptively simple," that skilled maximizing of minimalism that unfortunately makes novice filmmakers with arty inclinations believe profundity can be mined from barely anything happening. There's definitely a richness to the third austere feature from South Korean filmmaker Lee Yoon-ki ( This Charming Girl, Love Talk), which begins with a modest premise... Read review >>
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When Eric Lartigau did his Q&A, after the debut screening of I Do during the FSLC's Rendez-vous with French Cinema in 2007, a viewer asked when his film might be released in the USA. Don't hold your breath, M. Lartigau told us, because instead, negotiations were afoot for an American remake. A collective groan of displeasure went up from the audience... Two years later, we've still seen no remake, and now, thanks to Lionsgate, we've got that original on DVD... Read review >> |
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Toss your name into the hat for a chance to win some cool prizes in our latest contest: For Henry Selick's spectacular new stop-motion adventure (the first stop-motion film shot in 3-D!), Coraline. Go here for the contest and for a peek at the film's cool trailer. |
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Feeling Presidential
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