Archive for August, 2006

Long before the movie ends with its big reveal, youll know whats going on, whether or not youve seen the original. Thats alright, getting there is pleasant even if youve figured out where IThe Wicker ManI is headed. Its Cage, the guys just a pleasure to watch. Writerdirector Neil LaBute seems to know just how to use him, and sends him panicking and panting all over the island in a desperate, probably futile hunt for non-existent clues.

Ric Burns’s absorbing four-hour critical biography of the seminal pop artist is devoted to the proposition that Warhol was the greatest artist of the second half of the 20th century.

Everything old is new again in the latest film about the beloved pooch with the I.Q. of a grad student and the instincts of a boomerang.

Written and directed by Andrew Bujalski, this wonderful independent film won’t save or change your life, but it may make your heart swell. Its aim is modest and true.

Kirby Dick's feisty, intellectually engaging documentary tries to illuminate an aspect of moviemaking — and moviegoing — that is deliberately left in the dark.

It would be easy to kick ICrossoverI square in the basketball. Its an awkward little movie, meandering from scene to scene with complete disconnect. Then theres Wayne Brady as the films villain. Wayne Brady, even at his most intimidating, is about as threatening as a basket full of kittens. Yep, there are a million different ways to rip this one, but Im not going to do it. Theres something lovable about ICrossoverI, its kind of like a three-legged dog. Its wobbly and unsure of itself, but damn if it isnt kind of cute in a dumb-ass dog-eared way.

IRenaissanceI is the kind of movie you instinctively want to be good. Stylized, heavily shadowed, and soaked in detail its a piece of moving art. I cant even begin to fathom the hours, days, and weeks that must have gone into carefully conceiving and setting up every single shot. But if sheer effort were an easy indicator of quality, then Cinema Blend would have long ago been acknowledged as the greatest movie site on the internet.

The Rocks big muscles and talent for smashing heads is put on the shelf while he steps into a role that a few years ago might have gone to R. Lee Ermey in IGridiron GangI. He stars as real life underage correctional camp officer Sean Porter in the true story of a bunch of little bastards who become slightly less likely to stab you after they play some football and take out their aggression on rich white kids in opposing football costumes.

It should be noted that IThis Film Is Not Yet RatedI is a documentary with a specific agenda. It delivers the concerns and problems of filmmakers and film critics, but doesnt address the side of movie ratings from the parental point of view, with the exception of an especially profound comment from Matt Stone South Park of all people. Instead of addressing both sides of the argument or debating the need for a consistent ratings system, the film only builds a case against the current system. However, it puts together a hell of a case.

It takes more than just a handful of songs to turn a movie into a musical. The music and choreography should serve to progress the story in some way, not interrupt it. Thats a very simple observation, but one that seems to have escaped the creative minds behind iIdlewildi. OutKast members Andre 3000 and Big Boi bring their particular brand of hip hop to the 1930s gangster drama, but instead of integrating with the film and creating harmony, the heavily stylized music grinds the story to a halt each and every time.