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Reviews: January 2008 Archives
"The Air I Breathe"
By Matt Singer on 01/21/2008
By Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "The Air I Breathe," ThinkFilm, 2008] Why do so many "independent" movies look and sound exactly alike? Isn't that kind of a contradiction with the whole independent thing? Nothing in "The Air I Breathe" feels particularly indie; most everything in it is familiar. For any audience member who spends a significant portion of their free time in the arthouse, "Deja Vu" would make a fine alternate title. The plot is one of those contraptions where four seemingly unrelated stories are all inherently intertwined. Such films try to imbue the minutia of the everyday with... MORE »
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"The Air I Breathe"
By Matt Singer on 01/21/2008
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "The Air I Breathe," ThinkFilm, 2008] Why do so many "independent" movies look and sound exactly alike? Isn't that kind of a contradiction with the whole independent thing? Nothing in "The Air I Breathe" feels particularly indie; most everything in it is familiar. For any audience member who spends a significant portion of their free time in the arthouse, "Deja Vu" would make a fine alternate title. The plot is one of those contraptions where four seemingly unrelated stories are all inherently intertwined. Such films try to imbue the minutia of the everyday with... MORE »
"Teeth"
By Matt Singer on 01/14/2008
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Jess Weixler in "Teeth," Roadside Attractions, 2008] "Vagina dentata" is Latin for "toothed vagina" and it's a longstanding myth borne of the eternal fear of men everywhere about what lurks within the holiest of holies. This man had never heard of it before seeing the new film "Teeth," which deposits the idea into a horror comedy about a teenage girl who discovers that her newfound sexuality has a, ahem, biting sense of humor. Maybe I'm too psychosexually well-adjusted. Maybe I'm just not that well versed in classical myths. So I wasn't too familiar, but... MORE »
"Teeth"
By Matt Singer on 01/14/2008
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Jess Weixler in "Teeth," Roadside Attractions, 2008] "Vagina dentata" is Latin for "toothed vagina" and it's a longstanding myth borne of the eternal fear of men everywhere about what lurks within the holiest of holies. This man had never heard of it before seeing the new film "Teeth," which deposits the idea into a horror comedy about a teenage girl who discovers that her newfound sexuality has a, ahem, biting sense of humor. Maybe I'm too psychosexually well-adjusted. Maybe I'm just not that well versed in classical myths. So I wasn't too familiar, but... MORE »
"Cassandra's Dream"
By Matt Singer on 01/14/2008
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Colin Farrell in "Cassandra's Dream," Weinstein Company, 2007] Each new Woody Allen movie should be looked at as if it were a cinematic Venn diagram. His latest film always lies at the intersection of two or three of his older ones. In the case of "Cassandra's Dream," it's a mix of "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and the first picture from Allen's English excursion, "Match Point." From the former, Allen reexamines the morality of murder, as well as the nature of God and punishment; from the latter, Allen returns (just two years later) to the debate... MORE »
"Cassandra's Dream"
By Matt Singer on 01/14/2008
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: Colin Farrell in "Cassandra's Dream," Weinstein Company, 2007] Each new Woody Allen movie should be looked at as if it were a cinematic Venn diagram. His latest film always lies at the intersection of two or three of his older ones. In the case of "Cassandra's Dream," it's a mix of "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and the first picture from Allen's English excursion, "Match Point." From the former, Allen reexamines the morality of murder, as well as the nature of God and punishment; from the latter, Allen returns (just two years later) to the debate... MORE »
"Woman on the Beach"
By Alison Willmore on 01/07/2008
Filed under: ReviewsJoong-rae, an established (though not very well-off) director, corrals his weak-willed friend Chang-wook into taking him to the seaside for a few days so that he can work on his overdue script. Chang-wook agrees on the condition that he be allowed to bring his girlfriend along. The three set off in the morning in the friend's car, listening to music written and performed by the girl, Moon-sook, who's a composer and clearly a big fan of Joong-rae's work. They have stilted getting-to-know-you conversations. They find a place to stay. And then, as they dawdle outside, Joong-rae tells Chang-wook that he... MORE »
"Running With Arnold"
By Matt Singer on 01/07/2008
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Running With Arnold," Red Envelope Entertainment, 2008] It's one thing to make a one-sided documentary and it's quite another to make a one-sided documentary and claim impartiality. Though in the film's press notes, director Dan Cox claims he was "determined to maintain an objective stance," his documentary "Running With Arnold" is chock full of the sort of techniques that he claims in the same statement are "anathema to journalism." Cox, a former Variety editor, says that Michael Moore "manipulates images and facts to create over-the-top points that ultimately ring hollow." Perhaps, but one could... MORE »
"Running With Arnold"
By Matt Singer on 01/07/2008
Filed under: Reviews, ReviewsBy Matt Singer IFC News [Photo: "Running With Arnold," Red Envelope Entertainment, 2008] It's one thing to make a one-sided documentary and it's quite another to make a one-sided documentary and claim impartiality. Though in the film's press notes, director Dan Cox claims he was "determined to maintain an objective stance," his documentary "Running With Arnold" is chock full of the sort of techniques that he claims in the same statement are "anathema to journalism." Cox, a former Variety editor, says that Michael Moore "manipulates images and facts to create over-the-top points that ultimately ring hollow." Perhaps, but one could... MORE »
