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#315 | Dec 1, 2009 |
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No stranger to mining lyricism from bleak landscapes, The Proposition director John Hillcoat (here working with screenwriter Joe Penhall) has poignantly visualized the burnt-out, grey wasteland of The Road—the 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, author of No Country for Old Men. For a new GC podcast, Hillcoat discusses the real-life father and son who appear in The Road, how he distilled Cormac McCarthy, and what most people don't know his long-time collaborator Nick Cave does two or three times a day. More >> |
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In This Dispatch:
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French director Arnaud Desplechin's masterful family drama is "the most emotionally rich and cinematically thrilling film I've seen all year, a film that pulses with human life in all its terrible and beautiful irrationality," wrote Sean Axmaker. J. Hoberman calls it "a heady plum pudding of a movie--studded with outsized performances and drenched in cinematic brio. The concoction is over-rich, yet irresistible." The director-approved Criterion DVD includes a documentary by Desplechin. |
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Actress and comedienne Charlyne Yi, most recognized for her brief bit of scene-stealing in Knocked Up, co-wrote and co-stars (with Michael Cera) in this indie that combines elements of documentary and traditional storytelling, reality and fantasy, which garnered mixed reviews but charmed quite a few. "Enjoying this wondrous wisp of a something is easy, describing it is hard," wrote Peter Travers. "Luckily, Charlyne Yi is an enchantress." Adds Robert Wilonsky, it's "all kinds of adorable and heartbreaking." |
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Also out today (not much): Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian;
Terminator: Salvation [see review below];
Mystery Science Theater 3000: XVI;
Live!. New and Coming Releases lists | Your Queue | Discuss! | GreenCine's review blog: Guru | GC Member Reviews and Lists | New DVD Spotlight |
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What We're Watching |
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Here's an epic Italian gangster film that seems unconcerned with paying homage to Coppola, Scorsese, Leone or Tarantino. Rather, it's more interested in looking forward and generating thoughtful rhythms and spaces. Based on a best-selling book by journalist Roberto Saviano, whose diggings into this gangster world has forced him to live in hiding under police protection, Gomorrah opens on a vivid scene of shocking violence in a blue-splashed tanning salon, just as a taste....Read review >>
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And surprise, Erin Donovan likes T4: "Even if you don't enjoy large, garish action films, you have to have a certain respect for the Terminator franchise. Created in 1984, it was predicated on the notion that computers (which were utterly foreign contraptions to most people at the time) would someday collect enough data on humanity to recognize us as a threat, become self-aware and eventually try to extinguish us all. Even considering today's audience, the series has managed to keep itself relevant enough to warrant..." Read review >>
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The LA Times' Susan King called this new 3 disc set collecting some of the best of vintage TV drama "a knockout." Featuring incredible, groundbreaking work by John Frankenheimer, Mickey Rooney, Rod Serling, Paul Newman and Delbert Mann, the set collects some of the best of the 1950s' top anthology series. We also recommend Ron Simon's terrific essay on Criterion's site on the magic of live television as exemplified in the set.
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Explore |
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Aaron Hillis reports back from last night's Gotham Independent Film Awards in NYC, with some fun reaction quotes from key players and winners. More >> A shadow was cast over this year's 50th anniversary celebrations of the Thessaloniki (Greece) International Film Festival, which wrapped on Sunday. The fest, one of the most stimulating and enjoyable traditionally provides a shop window for Greek cinema. Ronald Bergan has more on GreenCine Daily. |
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