“Rembetiko” was undoubtedly a labour of love for producer, co-writer and director Costa Ferris. Unfortunately, the film will prove a labour of a different kind for most modern audiences, its muddled nature and shallow characterisations deflating some frequently inspired production work. But you can discount yourself from possible disaffection if you’re in any way a […]
This claymation film, Mary and Max, gives no illusions as to what its target audience is. Using the painstaking skill of stop motion photography, combined with the incredibly difficult animation technique of claymation (the animated art of hand sculptured movement) Oscar winning creative genius Adam Elliot, (the writer, production designer and director of Mary and
I have long admired Jennifer Jason Leigh for her courage in the face of critical adversity, cheering every mumble in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, clinging for dear life to the screwed warble-songs of Georgia. Sadly, “The Ballad of Jenny” went askew this year when she decided to continue her particular Brand X of
Quiet, small-scale, and self-contained dramas such as Antwone Fisher can be powered in one direction or another by the smallest detail. For title character (and real person) Fisher (Derek Luke), a sailor serving in the U.S. Navy, it’s an ill-advised fistfight with a fellow officer that sparks his emotional odyssey. The outburst is sudden, swift,
I scarcely know where to start writing about Apollo 13, the long awaited story of the catastrophic 13th mission of the Apollo space program. I went in expecting a whole lot from Howard and his star studded cast (Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton), and they delivered in full, the
Life must be a nonstop party at the old Egoyan homestead. Our pal Atom comes home, tired from a long day’s work, sits down for dinner with his wife Arsinée Khanjian, and finally they retire to the living room where they get to discuss Armenia at length. Atom Egoyan, the avant-garde Canadian filmmaker born in
Thrillers can be really bad. When was the last time you saw a good thriller? It takes sound acting, a creative premise and most of all, suspense. Arlington Road, the new film starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins, has a paranoia factor set in. There are many moments in this movie where I felt paranoid
After screening Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) before a sold-out crowd at the New York Museum of Modern Art, filmmakers Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn answered an audience member’s question with obvious chagrin. While the film had collected six Genie awards (Canada’s Oscars), including prizes for Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Screenplay, Cohn noted that
Starting right with its cover shot of demure Japanese model Eihi Shiina wearing a chemical-safe, black rubber glove and clutching an enormous syringe, we know we’re in for something extremely wrong with Takashi Miike’s Audition. And in a way, that’s the problem. Audition starts out as the sweetest little love tragedy you can imagine. Poor
Goldmember finds Mike Myers returning to his most successful franchise, but desperately running out of steam and resorting to yet another stab at jokes that hit-and-missed the first two times around. Goldmember is probably the worst in the Austin Powers series (though I really enjoyed the second one I didn’t think the original was all
