[Best of 2009 entries will continue tomorrow]
There’s a creeping dread that permeates Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon”. It’s a spectral terror that manifests itself powerfully through acts of violence but does not lay claim to any identifiable source. It’s one hell of a disturbing feeling, and it’s the kind of emotion that Haneke has become quite skillful at evoking throughout his career.
Continue Reading Add comment February 18th, 2010 Raj Ranade
Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station” is a campy, over-the-top comic melodrama, which certainly isn’t what you’d expect from a film about Leo Tolstoy’s last years. I suppose this might bother those familiar with Tolstoy’s work; what I know of him comes mainly from that “Seinfeld” episode in which the true title of “War and Peace” is revealed to be “War: What Is It Good For?” In any case, this particular philistine had a rather good time at the movies, and, as long as you don’t expect high intellectualism in your films about literary giants, I suspect that you might as well.
Continue Reading Add comment February 12th, 2010 Raj Ranade
Some of my favorite films of all time work by creating fascinating characters, placing them in a setting and then basically just going with the flow, giving precedence to meanderings, longueurs and tangential incident. Scott Cooper’s debut feature film “Crazy Heart” is so good at this that it’s a shame it bothers with frivolities like “plot” and “dramatic structure.”
Continue Reading Add comment February 5th, 2010 Raj Ranade
Ah, the holidays - a time for seeing family, friends, “Avatar” and “Avatar” again. Though I’m fond of James Cameron’s imbecilic masterpiece, I’m sure I’m not the only one tired of talking about it, so I’ll be reviewing two other big holiday releases instead. I can’t, however, resist mentioning my favorite line about “Avatar” from film critic Ali Arikan. In reference to the film’s stunning visuals and stunningly bad writing, Arikan aptly noted, “You don’t go to Hooters for the food.”
Continue Reading Add comment January 11th, 2010 Raj Ranade
The great film critic Manny Farber once noted the difference between “white elephant art” - pretentious would-be masterpieces that we now call Oscar-bait - and “termite art” - films that joyfully burrow into their own set of details and concerns, awards and accolades be damned. Understandably, the latter sort of film is often more enjoyable than the former, and the difference is well-illustrated by the Thanksgiving releases of “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
Continue Reading Add comment December 17th, 2009 Raj Ranade
You’d think that director brothers Joel and Ethan Coen ‘79 would be in good spirits these days. After all, “No Country for Old Men” raked in multiple Oscars, and “Burn After Reading” was their first film to top the weekend box office. But the Coens’ newest work, “A Serious Man,” might also be their bleakest - all the more so because it happens to be a comedy.
In fact, its use of humor to tell a story of divine indifference and Old Testament wrath is precisely why the film often seems so brutal - imagine playing the cosmic struggles of ‘No Country’ for laughs. Certainly, if anyone can pull off this sort of vicious humor, it’s the Coens, who have in the past coaxed laughs out of everything from feet in wood-chippers to gunshots to the face. But don’t think that the film is a mere farce: This undoubtedly serious story about a man struggling with the unanswerable questions of the universe makes “A Serious Man” not only one of their funniest films, but also one of their best.
Continue Reading Add comment November 12th, 2009 Raj Ranade
To get an idea of the kind of guy that Lars von Trier is, consider his statement at a press conference following the disastrous booed Cannes premiere of his new film “Antichrist”: “I am the best director in the world.”
Continue Reading Add comment November 2nd, 2009 Raj Ranade
You might remember april’s “Adventureland,” a touching coming-of-age story in which Jesse Eisenberg moved toward manhood in an amusement park. “Zombieland” is that too, with an important difference: Zombies. First-time director Ruben Fleischer’s horror comedy shows us that the undead are the bloody jolt that we didn’t know the indie coming-of-age story needed. Think of the movie as “Shaun of the Dead” steeped in Americana - junk food, NASCAR and fumbling teens trying to lose their virginity all play a big part here.
Continue Reading Add comment November 2nd, 2009 Raj Ranade
The first film that came to my mind after seeing Jane Campion’s new film “Bright Star” was Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” This association may seem strange, given that the former is a high-toned 19th-century romance, while the latter prominently features a wrestling move known as the “Ram Jam.” But the comparison is more apt than you might think. Like Aronofsky, Campion is a director known for iconoclastic, ambitious pieces of work (like “The Piano”) who hit a wall of critical scorn (for her oddball erotic thriller “In the Cut”). Just as Aronofsky did with “The Wrestler,” Campion responded by making a stripped-down, unpretentious human story anchored by a powerful central performance. Critics are raving - the film was a Palme D’Or nominee at Cannes - and for good reason: “Bright Star” is a sumptuous romance that easily stands with the best of Campion’s previous work.
Continue Reading Add comment November 2nd, 2009 Raj Ranade
Steven Soderbergh’s new film “The Informant!” is a bizarre, perplexing mess. This is not entirely a bad thing. The bizarre, perplexing nature of the true-life story of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), who blew the whistle on his employer to stop a price-fixing conspiracy but ended up destroying his own life in the process, almost seems to necessitate such a film. Whitacre’s story is filled with weird, contradictory choices, and Soderbergh’s audacious gambit is to make contradiction the guiding spirit of the film.
Continue Reading Add comment November 2nd, 2009 Raj Ranade
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