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Reviews: September 2007 Archives
"The Darjeeling Limited"
By Alison Willmore on 09/24/2007
Wes Anderson, I love you, but you're bringing me down. The hermetically sealed world of your films — the man-children; the inexplicable melancholy; the flat, wide shots; the fetishized artifacts of adolescence and carefully chosen vintage pop soundtracks — has always resonated so strongly for me. I shrugged off all accusations of tweeness, I defended "The Life Aquatic" against the most virulent of critics, I saw in that AmEx commercial promising signs of self-awareness and gentle self-mockery. But with "The Darjeeling Limited" you may have finally vanished into your own well-contemplated navel and, I'm sorry to say, lost me entirely.... MORE »
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"Feast of Love"
By Matt Singer on 09/24/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Greg Kinnear in "Feast of Love," MGM, 2007] The movie is called "Feast of Love" and, indeed, there is much love in the movie. Too much, in fact. If this is a feast, it is one in which the host bought an enormous quantity of food, and now the guests feel obliged to stuff their craws until they're nauseous and bloated. This sort of movie and that sort of meal calls for a kind of moderation that director Robert Benton appears unwilling to provide. And it's not just that so many characters are falling... MORE »
"Feast of Love"
By Matt Singer on 09/24/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Greg Kinnear in "Feast of Love," MGM, 2007] The movie is called "Feast of Love" and, indeed, there is much love in the movie. Too much, in fact. If this is a feast, it is one in which the host bought an enormous quantity of food, and now the guests feel obliged to stuff their craws until they're nauseous and bloated. This sort of movie and that sort of meal calls for a kind of moderation that director Robert Benton appears unwilling to provide. And it's not just that so many characters are falling... MORE »
"The Jane Austen Book Club"
By Matt Singer on 09/17/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Emily Blunt and Marc Blucas in "The Jane Austen Book Club," Sony Pictures Classics, 2007] The oft-quoted critic Robert Warshow once wrote "A man watches a movie, and the critic must acknowledge that he is a man." That man has no place in the new chick flick "The Jane Austen Book Club," a movie so thoroughly anti-dude for most of its running time that the only sensible male reaction to it is guilt. The movie is about a group of disgruntled women (and one brave man) who form a book club to read the... MORE »
"The Jane Austen Book Club"
By Matt Singer on 09/17/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Emily Blunt and Marc Blucas in "The Jane Austen Book Club," Sony Pictures Classics, 2007] The oft-quoted critic Robert Warshow once wrote "A man watches a movie, and the critic must acknowledge that he is a man." That man has no place in the new chick flick "The Jane Austen Book Club," a movie so thoroughly anti-dude for most of its running time that the only sensible male reaction to it is guilt. The movie is about a group of disgruntled women (and one brave man) who form a book club to read the... MORE »
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
By Matt Singer on 09/17/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," Warner Bros., 2007] According to Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," that famous outlaw's last words were "Don't that picture look dusty." Dominik's picture is dusty too, a throwback to the last great period of westerns in the early 1970s, those days of Peckinpah and Siegel and Altman. It succeeds in invoking that era, but not necessarily in equaling its great works. The title, taken from the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen,... MORE »
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
By Matt Singer on 09/17/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," Warner Bros., 2007] According to Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," that famous outlaw's last words were "Don't that picture look dusty." Dominik's picture is dusty too, a throwback to the last great period of westerns in the early 1970s, those days of Peckinpah and Siegel and Altman. It succeeds in invoking that era, but not necessarily in equaling its great works. The title, taken from the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen,... MORE »
"King of California"
By Matt Singer on 09/10/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Michael Douglas in "King of California," First Look, 2007] Michael Douglas won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1988 for his performance in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street." Watching his latest film, Mike Cahill's "King of California," I got the feeling he's hungry for another. His character, Charlie, has everything an actor looking to make a big critical splash could want: mental illness, a haunted past, a troubled relationship with a daughter and loud facial hair. Douglas is good in the part, though I couldn't help but wonder what his father, Kirk — the best... MORE »
"King of California"
By Matt Singer on 09/10/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Michael Douglas in "King of California," First Look, 2007] Michael Douglas won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1988 for his performance in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street." Watching his latest film, Mike Cahill's "King of California," I got the feeling he's hungry for another. His character, Charlie, has everything an actor looking to make a big critical splash could want: mental illness, a haunted past, a troubled relationship with a daughter and loud facial hair. Douglas is good in the part, though I couldn't help but wonder what his father, Kirk — the best... MORE »
"In the Shadow of the Moon"
By Matt Singer on 09/03/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: David Sington's "In the Shadow of the Moon," ThinkFilm, 2007] Traveling inside what amounts to a giant tin can strapped to front of an incredibly powerful rocket hurtling through space 13 times faster than a speeding bullet only to get to a desolate place with no air, sustenance or shelter can really readjust the way you look at life on Earth. The 24 men who made this remarkable journey, and saw our home from a distance, floating serenely and precariously amidst the rest of the cosmos, took away from it an appreciation of the... MORE »
"In the Shadow of the Moon"
By Matt Singer on 09/03/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: David Sington's "In the Shadow of the Moon," ThinkFilm, 2007] Traveling inside what amounts to a giant tin can strapped to front of an incredibly powerful rocket hurtling through space 13 times faster than a speeding bullet only to get to a desolate place with no air, sustenance or shelter can really readjust the way you look at life on Earth. The 24 men who made this remarkable journey, and saw our home from a distance, floating serenely and precariously amidst the rest of the cosmos, took away from it an appreciation of the... MORE »
"Romance & Cigarettes"
By Matt Singer on 09/03/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: John Turturro's "Romance & Cigarettes," 2007] In his unorthodox new film, "Romance & Cigarettes," director John Turturro takes an unconventional approach to the musical, one of the most conventional of genres. Deeply felt, but not especially deep, it works best at its most passionate, which could probably be said of most other musicals as well. But most other musicals don't also include shockingly vulgar language, dancing garbage men, pencil-thin mustaches and the most sexualized fire hose in cinema history. The road to American theaters has been a hard one for "Romance & Cigarettes," as... MORE »
"Romance & Cigarettes"
By Matt Singer on 09/03/2007
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: John Turturro's "Romance & Cigarettes," 2007] In his unorthodox new film, "Romance & Cigarettes," director John Turturro takes an unconventional approach to the musical, one of the most conventional of genres. Deeply felt, but not especially deep, it works best at its most passionate, which could probably be said of most other musicals as well. But most other musicals don't also include shockingly vulgar language, dancing garbage men, pencil-thin mustaches and the most sexualized fire hose in cinema history. The road to American theaters has been a hard one for "Romance & Cigarettes," as... MORE »
