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Reviews: July 2007 Archives
"El Cantante"
By Matt Singer on 07/30/2007
By Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Marc Anthony in "El Cantante," Picturehouse Entertainment, 2007] "El Cantante" is a love letter from its stars, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, to themselves. Though it is a biopic about a talented singer, salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, celebrating his life, his music and his fans takes a backseat to celebrating the great off-screen romance between Mr. and Mrs. J.Lo. Their love will last a lifetime, or at least as long as it takes you to sit through this muddled vanity project. Lavoe (Anthony), who was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York... MORE »
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"El Cantante"
By Matt Singer on 07/30/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Marc Anthony in "El Cantante," Picturehouse Entertainment, 2007] "El Cantante" is a love letter from its stars, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, to themselves. Though it is a biopic about a talented singer, salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, celebrating his life, his music and his fans takes a backseat to celebrating the great off-screen romance between Mr. and Mrs. J.Lo. Their love will last a lifetime, or at least as long as it takes you to sit through this muddled vanity project. Lavoe (Anthony), who was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York... MORE »
"The Sugar Curtain"
By Matt Singer on 07/23/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "The Sugar Curtain," First Run/Icarus Films, 2007] "The Sugar Curtain" opens with a shot of a hand holding a photograph of a building. Then the hand lowers and we see the same building behind the photograph, now decades older and in disrepair. This first shot sets the tone for this absorbing documentary, which uses many old photographs and the recollections of the Cuban people to paint a picture of a happier time in the country that exists now only in memory. Camila Guzmán Urzúa, the film's producer, director, and cinematographer grew up in Cuba... MORE »
"The Sugar Curtain"
By Matt Singer on 07/23/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "The Sugar Curtain," First Run/Icarus Films, 2007] "The Sugar Curtain" opens with a shot of a hand holding a photograph of a building. Then the hand lowers and we see the same building behind the photograph, now decades older and in disrepair. This first shot sets the tone for this absorbing documentary, which uses many old photographs and the recollections of the Cuban people to paint a picture of a happier time in the country that exists now only in memory. Camila Guzmán Urzúa, the film's producer, director, and cinematographer grew up in Cuba... MORE »
"Arctic Tale"
By Matt Singer on 07/23/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Arctic Tale," Paramount Vantage, 2007] "Arctic Tale" sounds an alarm about our society's environmental impact on the Arctic Ocean — an alarm that sounds distinctly like a walrus fart. This mystifying film, equal parts whimsical children's book and apocalyptic nature documentary, oscillates wildly between tones and moods and digestive functions, particularly in one outlandish scene where a pack of walruses eat a hearty meal and let 'em rip. Not since Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" has the silver screen been torn asunder by such a display of cinematic flatulence. And this is a movie about... MORE »
"Arctic Tale"
By Matt Singer on 07/23/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Arctic Tale," Paramount Vantage, 2007] "Arctic Tale" sounds an alarm about our society's environmental impact on the Arctic Ocean — an alarm that sounds distinctly like a walrus fart. This mystifying film, equal parts whimsical children's book and apocalyptic nature documentary, oscillates wildly between tones and moods and digestive functions, particularly in one outlandish scene where a pack of walruses eat a hearty meal and let 'em rip. Not since Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" has the silver screen been torn asunder by such a display of cinematic flatulence. And this is a movie about... MORE »
"Cashback"
By Matt Singer on 07/16/2007
Filed under: Reviews, Reviews"Cashback" ends with its hero, a dreamy art school student named Ben, telling the audience in voiceover, "Once upon a time, I wanted to know what love was. You just have to see that it's wrapped in beauty and hidden away in between the seconds of your life. If you don't stop for a minute, you might miss it." Ben — and maybe "Cashback" writer/director Sean Ellis — has seen "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" so many times he's begun claiming its insights as his own. There are a few moments of truth in "Cashback," but those, like that final farewell,... MORE »
"Cashback"
By Matt Singer on 07/16/2007
Filed under: Reviews, Reviews"Cashback" ends with its hero, a dreamy art school student named Ben, telling the audience in voiceover, "Once upon a time, I wanted to know what love was. You just have to see that it's wrapped in beauty and hidden away in between the seconds of your life. If you don't stop for a minute, you might miss it." Ben — and maybe "Cashback" writer/director Sean Ellis — has seen "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" so many times he's begun claiming its insights as his own. There are a few moments of truth in "Cashback," but those, like that final farewell,... MORE »
"Sunshine"
By Matt Singer on 07/16/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Cillian Murphy in "Sunshine," Fox Searchlight, 2007] Their first mistake was naming their ship the Icarus. Icarus, a character from Greek mythology, was able to fly on artificial wings, but grew too enamored with his power, flew too close to the sun, melted his wings and fell to his death. I certainly get the symbolism, but if you were on a last-ditch mission to save all of humanity by delivering a nuclear bomb the size of Manhattan to the heart of the sun, wouldn't you name the rocket you were traveling in something a... MORE »
"Sunshine"
By Matt Singer on 07/16/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Cillian Murphy in "Sunshine," Fox Searchlight, 2007] Their first mistake was naming their ship the Icarus. Icarus, a character from Greek mythology, was able to fly on artificial wings, but grew too enamored with his power, flew too close to the sun, melted his wings and fell to his death. I certainly get the symbolism, but if you were on a last-ditch mission to save all of humanity by delivering a nuclear bomb the size of Manhattan to the heart of the sun, wouldn't you name the rocket you were traveling in something a... MORE »
"Interview"
By Matt Singer on 07/09/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Interview," Sony Pictures Classics, 2007] A good interview should be insightful and revealing. To be sure, the interview in "Interview" isn't a good one, but it would be nice if the film had a little of those qualities. It does not. The film places us in a room with two characters and their accumulated mishegas but it doesn't have enough intellectual curiosity about them to keep our attention. The two characters are Pierre, played by Steve Buscemi, and Katya, played by Sienna Miller. He is a political journalist who has roiled his editor and... MORE »
"Interview"
By Matt Singer on 07/09/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Interview," Sony Pictures Classics, 2007] A good interview should be insightful and revealing. To be sure, the interview in "Interview" isn't a good one, but it would be nice if the film had a little of those qualities. It does not. The film places us in a room with two characters and their accumulated mishegas but it doesn't have enough intellectual curiosity about them to keep our attention. The two characters are Pierre, played by Steve Buscemi, and Katya, played by Sienna Miller. He is a political journalist who has roiled his editor and... MORE »
"Rescue Dawn"
By Matt Singer on 07/02/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Rescue Dawn," MGM, 2007] If Dieter Dengler didn't exist, Werner Herzog would have had to invent him. As it is, he has reinvented him, in a way, in his new film "Rescue Dawn." Dengler was a German-American who dreamed of becoming a pilot ever since the day Allied aircraft buzzed his home and destroyed the little village in which he grew up. He emigrated to the US and joined the Navy just in time to serve in the Vietnam War. On his very first mission into Asia, he was shot down, captured and imprisoned... MORE »
"Rescue Dawn"
By Matt Singer on 07/02/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Rescue Dawn," MGM, 2007] If Dieter Dengler didn't exist, Werner Herzog would have had to invent him. As it is, he has reinvented him, in a way, in his new film "Rescue Dawn." Dengler was a German-American who dreamed of becoming a pilot ever since the day Allied aircraft buzzed his home and destroyed the little village in which he grew up. He emigrated to the US and joined the Navy just in time to serve in the Vietnam War. On his very first mission into Asia, he was shot down, captured and imprisoned... MORE »
"Joshua"
By Matt Singer on 07/02/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Joshua," Fox Searchlight, 2007] Last week, I reviewed the Swiss film "Vitus," about a child born with extraordinary intelligence and parents he cannot relate to. This week's "Joshua" is about a very similar child with a very dissimilar temperament. And so "Vitus" is a light-hearted drama and this year's Sundance hit "Joshua" is a black-hearted comedy. It is one of the enduring miracles of the movies that two can be made about much the same thing in totally different ways and both can be totally worthwhile. Joshua (Jacob Kogan) is the older son of... MORE »
"Joshua"
By Matt Singer on 07/02/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Joshua," Fox Searchlight, 2007] Last week, I reviewed the Swiss film "Vitus," about a child born with extraordinary intelligence and parents he cannot relate to. This week's "Joshua" is about a very similar child with a very dissimilar temperament. And so "Vitus" is a light-hearted drama and this year's Sundance hit "Joshua" is a black-hearted comedy. It is one of the enduring miracles of the movies that two can be made about much the same thing in totally different ways and both can be totally worthwhile. Joshua (Jacob Kogan) is the older son of... MORE »
