 |
|
In This Dispatch:
- What's New: Capitalism: A Love Story; Up in the Air.
- What We're Watching: Rossellini's War Trilogy, Wild Things, Oscar shorts.
- Explore: Oscar-nominated shorts.
|
|
|
The BBC's Mark Kermode recently called this Michael Moore's best film, and yet it didn't seem to have the traction as many of his other incendiary works. But, says Peter Travers, "Moore's fireball of a movie could change your life. It had me laughing with tears in my eyes." Roger Ebert: "He's a classic rabble rouser. Love him or hate him, you gotta give him credit. He centers our attention as no other documentarian ever has." |
|
|
|
The once-inevitable Oscar buzz for Jason Reitman's film may have waned but it made tons of 10 best lists. And like Capitalism, it's timely. "Makes it look easy, writes Kenneth Turan. "In its ability to blend entertainment and insight, comedy and poignancy, even drama and reality, things that are difficult by themselves but a whole lot harder in combination. This film does all that and never seems to break a sweat." Adds Richard Corliss: "Reitman's blend of comedy and drama, romance and social observation make Up in the Air the ideal movie--and maybe even a cure--for the Great Recession blues." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Two of the three movies considered here have already been made available on DVD some years back, though in lesser manifestations than the excellent new Criterion Collection transfers in the three-disc Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy. Made in the mid-1940s within three years of each other, each film has its own separate time frame, plot(s) and characters. You can watch them individually with no problem, but seeing them one after another provides a different context that strengthens the entire experience.... Read more >> |
|
|
| |
There seems to be some question as to exactly who this film is intended for. Based on Maurice Sendak's classic 1963 children's book, Where the Wild Things Are isn't exactly for children (except for the most mature children). It's also not quite mature enough for adults (except for the most arrested adults). But what I love about the film is that director Spike Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers, as well as producer Sendak, have made a film for themselves. It's something that they themselves would perhaps like to see, and that is an all-too-rare quality in the ever-increasing business of making movies. The filmmakers are not concerned with selling "wild things" toys at fast-food restaurants; they... Read more >> |
|
|
| |
Largely unseen by the public at Oscar time, 2007's Academy Award-nominated short subjects are given their due in this collection of these remarkable live-action and animated films. Included here are the Oscar winners "The Mozart of Pickpockets," in which a homeless boy becomes a good-luck charm for a pair of unsuccessful thieves, and the animated "Peter & the Wolf," a dark retelling of Prokofiev's musical tale. GreenCine also has the 2005 and 2006 Oscar-nominated Shorts collections. |
|
|
Amy Monaghan, a.k.a. cinetrix, takes a detailed look at the Oscar nominated short animated films: "An astonishing number of cartoons are nominated for Academy Awards this year— Up, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avatar, Meryl Streep's mawkish turn as Julia Child—but only five are in contention for Best Animated Short Film." And Amy's favorite, Logorama, ended up taking home the gold statue on Sunday. More >>
Speaking of which, if you missed our Oscar live blog, fret not -- you can replay the whole chat here. We dare say it was more fun than the show itself, for what that's worth. |
|
|
| |
Indie Spirits: Best First Feature
|
|
