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As
much a spectacle for Halftime in America as the GOP primary circus, if
vastly more sober-minded, The
Hunger Games
serves itself up as an Orwellian reality show in which a future
parallel USA has ceded democracy to the totalitarian rule of the 1%,
made recognizable by their goofy Ziggy
Stardust costumes with hair by Edward
Scissorhands. Nothing if not
cross-reference-able, this adaptation of the Suzanne Collins'
young-adult blockbuster is far too many movies in one to merely merit
accusations of ripping off Battle
Royale.
Unfortunately, that's one of the more entertaining things about it. Read
more >>
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In
This Dispatch:
- What's
New: Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, David Lean Directs
Noel Coward: Blithe Sprit, El Bulli: Cooking in Progress.
- What
We're Watching: World on a Wire (Criterion), The Swell
Season.
- Explore:
Retro Active - Battle Royale, The Deep Blue Sea, SXSW 2012 - Critic's
Notebook #3.
- Contest:
Columbus
Circle DVD Giveaway!
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Perennial
GreenCine favorite Roger
Corman (he figures prominently
in our B-Movies
Primer, and we interviewed both
Roger & Wife for a podcast)
is celebrated in this doc from genre fan Alex
Stapleton who is of the belief
that "Corman’s lasting legacy is not only as one of the true
greats of indie cinema, but also as a generous human being who
encouraged and inspired other artists and gave them a chance," such as
a young Jack
Nicholson and countless others ( Collider).
"Cheerfully turning out low-budget shlockbusters, Corman emerges as the
very incarnation of never-say-die American entrepreneurialism and
capitalism, celebrating naughtiness, absurdity and fun," adds Peter
Bradshaw. |
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Criterion's
newly released set David Lean Directs
Noël Coward
contains some previously released films ( Brief
Encounter, In
Which We Serve), but contains 2
new to DVD works that celebrate the collaboration between director and
playwright: This Happy Breed
and Blithe Spirit.
Blithe
Spirit, the duo's third
collaboration together, has Lean taking some liberties with the
light-hearted supernatural comedy of manners. "Everything about
Lean’s film makes Coward’s material heavier and
more palpable. We have Coward’s comedy, but we have it as if
under glass, available for analysis in a way that a play in performance
never is," writes Geoffrey O'Brien for Current.
Margaret Rutherford turns in a stellar performance as Elvira the ghost,
with O'Brien adding "Rutherford’s inspired performance is one
of the great comic turns on-screen, as it apparently was onstage."
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Devoid
of talking-head interviews, this documentary takes the fly-on-the-wall
approach to its subject: the final menu at the world's most
forward-thinking restaurant, El Bulli (previously reviewed
for GreenCine Daily). "With each meal spanning 30 courses, each
reservation booked the day after the previous season ends, it seems
like the kind of place whose administration alone could warrant its own
documentary. Instead, director Gereon Wetzel profiles the passage from
idea to plate, beginning at the restaurant's workshop in Barcelona,
ending with a celebratory slideshow of its completed menu," describes
Jesse Cataldo at Slant.
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I
really don’t want to say a thing about World on a Wire. I
wish you could just take the above five-star rating to heart and watch
it, untainted by any sort of preconceived notion other than how awesome
it is.
That said, I’ll try my best to describe its awesomeness while
tiptoeing around the finer points of the plot. World on a Wire is a
made-for-German-television science fiction film directed by enfant
terrible Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film is set during an
approximation of the present in a Euro-metropolis. Read more >> |
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Among
its other accomplishments, the new documentary The
Swell Season
manages very clearly to differentiate fan bases: that of the fans of
the 2006 movie Once
(which starred the subjects of this new film: Glen
Hansard and Markéta
Irglová), or the fans
of the performers themselves. Fans of the former -- such as myself, who
found Once
a tiny, no-budget marvel with a lovely story, some wonderful songs and
a bittersweet ending about as close to perfection as movies get -- can
only feel supremely indebted to John
Carney, the writer/director of Once,
who, probably more than anyone, brought this film to fruition with his
sense of pacing, subtlety and story-telling skills. Read more >> |
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[This
week's "Retro Active" pick is inspired by the battle royale within the
new franchise du jour The
Hunger Games.] Generational
conflict takes on gory dimensions in Battle
Royale,
Kinji
Fukasaku's 2000 cult classic
about a dystopian future where unruly kids are dealt with via death
sport. Released to widespread controversy in its native
Japan—and never given a proper American theatrical release,
in part because of post-Columbine fears about its focus on murderous
kids... Read more >>
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SXSW
2012: Critic's Notebook #3. Steve Dollar brings us this dispatch
covering the films Sun Don't Shine,
Tchoupitoulas, Francine, The Imposter,
and more. He also recaps our festival coverage by giving awards to
"Best indie flashback," "Best Beards," "Best high concept," "Best
neglected genre," among others. Read more >>
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A
dark and suspenseful thriller starring Selma Blair as an agoraphobic
heiress confronted with a murder next door and new tenants to boot, Columbus
Circle, made its debut on
Blu-ray™, DVD, Digital Download and On Demand on March 6,
2012, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. And here's your chance
to win a copy of Columbus Circle on DVD! Read more >>
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Dystopian
Death Sport
Podcasts!
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