In recent times, heroes have shone very brightly. With the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, brave men and women have stepped up to save those you need saving and to help those who need helping. The fascinating documentary Rescue 3D takes viewers on a harrowing journey via plane, helicopter and ship to assist those in danger and also, to give hope.
Category Archives: Review
The Amazing Spider-Man
In 2012, Marvel cemented its name as the leader of superhero film franchises. Sure, Batman has done well on film but DC doesn’t hold a candle to Marvel when it comes to consistent quality and a variety of characters and storylines. Fifty years ago Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created one of pop culture’s most recognizable characters: Spider-Man, a nerdy kid from Queens who gets bitten by a genetically-engineered arachnid. He then transforms into web-swinging crime-fighter, the subject of the latest reboot by Director Marc Webb, The Amazing Spider-Man (with Andrew Garfield as the webslinger). This is the fourth time Spidey has graced the screen with his presence in a major film series all his own, with the first three starting back in 2002 with Sam Raimi’s vivid and somewhat campy trilogy (with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst) which ended in 2007.
Love and Valor
The American Civil War was a time of social and political unrest. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost and untold amounts of property was damaged. The war between the states was a nasty time for many including those in love. Married couples were torn apart when husbands were sent to the front lines to risk their lives for the unfortunate purpose that is war. The PBS documentary Love and Valordetails the relationship between a Union captain and his wife through the written letters they would send one another.
The Campaign
The Frat Pack used to be an entertainment entity of hugely talented proportions. Its members were comedy legends, actors who could do no wrong when it came to tickling audiences’ funny bones. Will Ferrell is probably the unofficial leader of this once highly coveted group of funnymen. The Frat Pack got a lot of mileage in the early to mid 2000‘s. Old School, Anchorman and Wedding Crashers were just a few of the Frat Pack’s successful entries in cinema. Unfortunately, Will Ferrell’s humor started to get stale as he tried recreating his previous success. This sad way of trying to relive the glory days was ever present in his latest cinematic bomb The Campaign. Filmmaker Adam McKay (Anchorman) is also partly to blame for this comedic misfire.
Rites of Passage
Bad movies are a very common thing these days. Particularly, movies released direct to DVD fall into this sad category. One such cinematic disaster,Rites of Passage is the subject of this review and the flaws contained in this flop are almost too many to count. The film is a thriller with a relatively good cast but has an unfortunate combination of a laughably bad script and weak direction. These two negative factors basically destroy the movie and make Rites of Passage one of the year’s worst films.
Alex Cross
When one hears the name Tyler Perry, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Madea, of course. Perry has had a successful career in comedy, drama and sitcoms. He usually dons a lady’s wig and dress to transform into the annoyingly unfunny Madea. This character has been seen many a time in Perry’s productions but on October 19, audiences will see a new side of Perry in Alex Cross, an action-drama about a revenge-seeking cop hunting a psychopathic assassin. The film is filled to the brim with cliches and results are rather average, if not below so.
Holy Motors
French cinema has a tendency to be a little strange from time to time. The classy European country releases films that are visually striking, thought-provoking and downright good. Holy Motors is one such film and the results from writer/director Leos Carax’s (Boy Meets Girl, The Lovers on the Bridge) bizarre work of art are very captivating. One must go into the film with an open mind because the story is rather surreal and the characters, truly unique. It is a French film that doesn’t really address any important issues. It is like true art. It simply exists to be marveled at.
Wake in Fright
The Australian Outback is known to be tough, rugged and inhospitable. This is a harsh reality made very clear in Director Ted Kotcheff’s gritty 1971 drama Wake in Fright, a strange film recently restored in a new 35mm print. The film takes an average Joe and puts him through a crazy ordeal of alcoholism, violence and mild homoeroticism. The story follows young and dashing schoolteacher John Grant (Gary Bond) who has taken a post in the Australian Outback. He plans to go to Sydney to visit his girlfriend but in order to do that, he must catch a flight from the middle-of-nowhere mining town Bundanyabba or known by the locals simply as “The Yabba”. Once there, John encounters a slew of colorful characters, most of whom find a passion for drinking copious amounts of beer, gambling and brawling.
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon
Sibling rivalry is very common in families. Brothers and sisters play, fight or both to try and best one another to declare absolute superiority. This age-old phenomenon of kids competing to eventually be declared “better” is a truly fascinating thing and in Jay and Mark Duplass’ independent dramedy The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, actors Mark Kelly and Steve Zissis battle 20 years after they finished competing which ended in a tie. On September 27, The Museum of the Moving Image held a very special screening of the film followed by a Q&A session with Kelly, Zissis and one of the writers/directors Jay Duplass.
Dark Shadows
In the last decade, renowned auteur Tim Burton has sort of dropped the ball creatively. After 2003’s Big Fish, the goth filmmaker sadly stopped making quality films. It seems he has sold his soul to Disney and now only makes kid-friendly dark comedies with the exception of Sweeney Todd. He puts Johnny Depp in everything because the Burton/Depp collaboration is one which warrants great commercial success but offers nothing new in terms of artistic innovation. Dark Shadows is the eighth collaboration between Burton and Depp and unlike a fine wine, their team-ups don’t get better with age.
Unger the Radar 