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Has Quentin Tarantino matured as a filmmaker, or does his talky WWII actioner Inglourious Basterds prove yet another indulgent film pastiche? Is its Jewish revenge plot cathartic, or merely insensitive? Or can we chalk its sadism up to a writer's irreverence, and ignore its political incorrectness entirely? It's just a movie, right? Time Out New York senior film writer Joshua Rothkopf (who recently spoke with Tarantino and star Christoph Waltz) doesn't have quite as much love for QT's Nazi-licious new epic as GC's Aaron Hillis does, which is why they met up for a "pubcast" at Brooklyn's Jakewalk bar—"where we could spill our thoughts, and hopefully not our beer." More >> |
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In This Dispatch:
- What's New: Goodbye Solo, Trouble the Water, and more.
- What We're Watching: Absurdistan, After the Party, Adventureland.
- Explore: Hirokazu Kore-eda.
- Contests: Taking Woodstock.
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We think this lovely indie from Ramin Bahrani ( Chop Shop) about an African cabdriver in North Carolina who befriends a lonely, drifting old man is one of the best films of '09. "Grace is also what defines Mr. Bahrani's filmmaking," writes A.O. Scott. "I can't think of anything else to call the quality of exquisite attention, wry humor and wide-awake intelligence that informs every frame of this almost perfect film." Adds Slate's Dana Stevens: "A film of great intelligence and quiet assurance, Goodbye Solo exhilarates without ever trafficking in easy uplift." See also our podcast on the film. |
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This week marks the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devestating arrival, so the release of this outstanding, Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning doc is well timed. Much of the film is from the point of view of a couple stranded in New Orleans during the storm, and is "enraging and inspiring," writes Michael Sragow. "It boasts the miraculous quality of finding a letter in a bottle and discovering that its authors are alive." Adds Salon, Trouble the Water "captures a tale of courage, heroism and tragedy more thrilling than any Hollywood spectacle." Also check out our interview with the filmmakers. |
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While Veit Helmer's bawdy burlesque Absurdistan seems, at first glance, like a fanciful folktale reimagining of Lysistrata, it's actually based upon a real-life Turkish incident that the director had read about in a 2001 newspaper article. The introductory narration in Absurdistan poetically describes the tumbledown, 14-family desert village where the film takes place... read review >> |
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Confession: I’ve never read anything by journalist/novelist/ex-movie producer, Dominick Dunne. Yet I imagine somehow that I know who he is. That’s the nature of celebrity; it wraps its cloak of reflective fame around those who possess it, lighting them up even as it obscures the person underneath. Celebrity is what this excellent Australian documentary is all about. In fact, its original title was "Celebrity: Dominick Dunne," though its Americanized one-- Dominick Dunne: After the Party--works as well. It was a party, after all, that turned Mr. Dunne’s life around and sent him spinning toward the thing he loved most: being near those who were famous and, eventually, becoming so himself... read review >> |
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GreenCine's Craig Phillips blogged about this one a few months ago: "Here's a case of a film that was totally mis-marketed. I'll admit, I finally saw Adventureland quite a bit late, after it had already moved theaters, but it's still easy to gauge how much it deserved a better fate. The marketing campaign sold it as a rather ribald, silly comedy, with comic actors like Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, and from the director of Superbad ( the movie font and colors even look a little Superbad-ish, and Jesse Eisenberg even seems at first glance like Michael Cera's slightly older brother), and I guess you can't totally blame them, but the film -- although it definitely has its share of laughs -- isn't just a comedy or a coming of age story but... read more >> |
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Hirokazu Kore-eda is the only major Japanese director of his generation who is a direct descendant of his cinematic forefathers' humanism. Kore-eda's Still Walking (soon to be getting a theatrical release from IFC Films) shows contemporary Japanese family life as imperfect but not outright dysfunctional. It's one of the few recent films in which one can recognize the same society Ozu depicted in Tokyo Story. In a new piece for GreenCine, Steve Erickson writes about one of the director's most personal films. More >> |
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New! Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, is based on the memoirs of Elliot Tiber and stars Demetri Martin as Elliot, who inadvertently played a role in making 1969’s Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the famed happening it was. The film features a standout ensemble cast, and songs from a score of ‘60s musical icons. And now thanks to GC and Focus Features, you can win a copy of the soundtrack CD, a cool t-shirt and some air freshener (!) Be one of 5 lucky winners by entering to win now. Details >> |
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