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Mon, Mar 08, 2010
The Film Noir Series at the Tivioli Cinemas included the grandaddy of all heist films — the black-and-white 1955 Jules Dassin classic "Rififi." The Series continues through March 25 with four more iconic classics of the genre.
Tue, Mar 02, 2010
Seven international film classics have been selected for a special Film Noir Series at the Tivoli Cinemas in Westport. Starting March 2 and continuing through the month, audiences will have the opportunity to experience these cinematic treasures from master filmmakers.
Tue, Mar 02, 2010
No, I didn't pick nine categories because there happened to be a 2009 musical titled "Nine" starring Penélope Cruz. There are 24 categories after all, so I have instead focused on those that you - the average, cinema-loving person - really cares about.
Tue, Mar 02, 2010
An instant classic, "The White Ribbon"is an unsolvable black-and-white mystery set in a pre-World War I German village where children are brutalized and an age-old class structure is threatened.
Tue, Feb 16, 2010
Generations collide when a bitter, elderly Tennessee widow returns to his farm only to discover it's been rented to an enemy from his past. "That Evening Sun" is a tense, superbly written drama with a performance by Hal Holbrook that shows he is still on top of his game.
Tue, Jan 26, 2010
Better late than never. Your humble, yet incredibly insightful film critic has created a list of the ten best films of 2009.
Tue, Jan 26, 2010
Jeff Bridges delivers the best performance of his long career as an alcoholic country singer in "Crazy Heart."
Tue, Jan 19, 2010
With all the smoldering sexual energy of Sophia Loren and sophisticated elegance of Audrey Hepburn, Academy Award-winner Penelope Cruz delivers a brilliant, emotional performance in the well-paced Spanish drama "Broken Embraces."
Tue, Jan 12, 2010
A longtime maid's psyche begins to unravel as she desperately tries to remain a part of her Chilean upper class "family."
Tue, Jan 05, 2010
The Japanese family drama "Still Walking" is an interesting, well-acted slice of cultural insight, but is in places, as flat as many once thought the world was.
Tue, Dec 29, 2009
Of course there is a little dramatic license taken here and there during the course of the story, but only one attains a little historical blasphemy and it involves an assassination attempt. Otherwise, The Young Victoria will leave you saying, "God Save The Queen!"
Tue, Dec 15, 2009
Director John Woo set out on a path paved with good intentions. His plan was to create an epic film which would depict a famous battle from the pages of ancient China history.
Tue, Dec 08, 2009
America is supposed to be a shining beacon of hope to the world, but the emotionally intense drama "Precious," with a memorable performance by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, reminds us that there are plenty here at home whose American dream is a hellish nightmare instead.
Mon, Nov 30, 2009
To receive news that a loved one has died in military combat would be a painful and tragic experience. The impact it has on a pair of soldiers who have to relay such news on a near-daily basis is depicted with unwavering brilliance in the military drama "The Messenger," one of 2009's best films.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Revenge is a dish best served cold. While the merits of that proverb have been debated ad nauseam, there is nothing cold about the devastatingly tragic tale depicted with raw emotion and brutal honesty in the 2008-released Austrian film, "Revanche."
Tue, Nov 17, 2009
Long live rock n'roll! That sums up the theme for the new British offbeat comedy "Pirate Radio," an irreverent look back at a period in time when anyone who listened to rock was labeled as a degenerate.
Tue, Nov 10, 2009
You don't have to be a great lover of fashion to appreciate the rags-to-riches story of legendary designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel - or to appreciate the wonderful performance of French actress Audrey Tautou as the lead in "Coco Before Chanel."
Tue, Nov 03, 2009
Larry wants to think of himself as a serious man, however, he cannot figure out what God is trying to tell him as a myriad of bad things continue happening to him. So he goes through a trio of rabbis in search of guidance but to no avail. His son's pot-hazed Bar Mitzvah provides a brief glimmer of hope to a better tomorrow but nothing is easy, or good in Larry's world.
Tue, Oct 27, 2009
As part of its permanent collection, the American Jazz Museum is home to one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collections of early and rare jazz film. Originally amassed by John H. Baker, an Ohio attorney and collector, the collection is comprised of over 5,000 titles
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
The title alone, "More Than a Game," says it all. This glorious, honest documentary is more than a film about basketball. It's more than the rise of LeBron James to superstar status in the NBA. Instead, it's a captivating glimpse into the formative years of five boys whose deep friendship, with the positive influence of their coaches, carries them through trials and tribulations and on into manhood.
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
Although "Amelia" is interspersed with flashes of her 1937 attempt to fly around the world, the story itself begins in 1928 when Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank) meets publisher/publicist George Putnam (Richard Gere) in New York. As a result of their meeting, she becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, but as a passenger.
Tue, Oct 20, 2009
Imagine living without your automobile, electricity, plastic bottles or anything else that might have an environmental impact. In an effort to inspire people to save the planet, Manhattan-based author Colin Beavan subjected his family to a spartan lifestyle for a year in the less than impactful documentary, No Impact Man. My question is: where is Al Gore when you need him?
Tue, Oct 20, 2009
After months of brainstorming, a feverish 17-hour film shoot, and masterful editing sessions to follow, the feature film revolving around Kansas City's own answer to German cabaret, Alacartoona, premiered this past Saturday at the Crossroad's Screenland Theater. While "Night is the Mirror" is certainly a visual and aural feast, it also acted as a testament to the current support system within Kansas City arts community.
Mon, Oct 12, 2009
Rarely does an opening scene involve a smiling father driving his SUV along a public beach with his laughing six-year-old sitting precariously on the hood. Despite this Britney Spears-like parenting moment, "The Boys Are Back" soon becomes a wonderful drama with enough emotional punch to make your eyes water and your face smile.
Tue, Oct 06, 2009
What is your soul worth to you? Is it worth putting in cold storage at a warehouse somewhere in New Jersey so you can live more carefree, or perform better in a play? Paul Giamatti, as Paul Giamatti, gambles with his soul and almost loses it in the lackluster comedy/drama "Cold Souls."
Mon, Sep 28, 2009
Rock icon and self-described poet Jim Morrison once wrote, "Did you have a good world when you died? Enough to base a movie on?" While early 19th century poet John Keats, a tragic figure in his own right, may not have thought he had a good world when he died at the age of 25, his life and love were epic enough to inspire this drama.
Mon, Sep 21, 2009
They say that silence is golden, but there is nothing golden about the Belgian drama "Lorna's Silence." Even though it received a best screenplay win at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, it is a tremendously slow-paced work that left at least yours truly wondering why he had wasted a small part of his life.
Mon, Sep 14, 2009
Imagine having the most repulsive, disrespectful, moronic, perverted and dishonest teenager that has possibly ever lived in modern history. Now imagine that teenager is your son and you're a single parent whose feelings of loneliness and professional rejection make you feel like a punching bag.
Tue, Sep 01, 2009
Let's face it, romance on the silver screen often follows a plodding, predictable format that's given a nice, big red bow at the end to help insure that everyone leaves satisfied. It may upset some apple carts, but the new romance "Adam" pushes the crayons outside the lines with a colorful, heartfelt presentation of a complicated relationship.
Mon, Aug 24, 2009
War is hell, but first there's political hell to pay in the often profane comedy "In The Loop" when a lowly British cabinet minister opens a Pandora's box during an interview and endangers secretive efforts by America and the United Kingdom to launch a war.
Wed, Aug 12, 2009
Written, directed and produced by legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, "Tetro" is a captivating, brilliantly acted, half-English/half-Spanish drama that contains a heightened sense of mystery and intrigue thanks to being filmed almost entirely in black and white.
Sun, Jul 05, 2009
Set during pre-World War I France, "Chéri" stars 3-time Oscar nominee Michelle Pfeiffer as Lea de Lonval, the equivalent of a modern-day cougar who has gone through a countless number of much younger men during her lifetime.
Thu, Jul 02, 2009
The 1920s were a time of change in Europe as American jazz and the avant-garde movement gathered steam, but these influences ran counter to the growing darkness that was fascism. It was in Spain where the first confrontation between these two philosophies collided.
Tue, Jun 30, 2009
It's a hard thing to continuously walk a thin line between drama and comedy for 98 minutes and be successful at both, but that's exactly what Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes deftly achieves with Away We Go.
Mon, Jun 22, 2009
"A Chorus Line's" premise of looking into the personal lives of Broadway performers as they audition is mirrored in this movie by the prominent featuring of a talented young dancer from New Jersey named Jessica Lee Goldyn.
Tue, Jun 09, 2009
It's a story that's as old as Cain and Abel - In the comedic drama "Rudo Y Cursi," two brothers, or in this case half-brothers, are pitted against one another in the fan-crazed world of Mexican soccer.
Tue, May 26, 2009
CORRECTION: In the May 27th review of "Cowtown Ballroom," it was incorrectly written that the El Torreon eventually served as the location for The Vanguard when in actuality the latter was at a separate location at 4305 Main St. Here it is again...
Tue, May 19, 2009
Did Rocky Balboa quit when Ivan Drago was crushing him in the ring? No. Did Roy Hobbs quit his baseball team when an old bullet wound started bleeding? No. The word quit wasn't in their vocabulary. However, in the case of aspiring baseball pitcher Miguel "Sugar" Santos, quitting is the best thing to do in the face of adversity.
Wed, May 13, 2009
It's that time of year again when big budget, commercial films explode across every multiplex screen. But if you look hard enough you can sometimes find something that’s a nice break from the typical “summer” fair. The new Michael Caine vehicle, 'Is Anybody There?', attempts to provide that with only limited success.
Mon, May 04, 2009
With each inevitable turn of the calendar, events of yesteryear take on an increasingly deeper hue of golden nostalgia. However, director Terence O'Malley's enlightening crime documentary, Black Hand Strawman, reminds us that Kansas City's past was often dark and bloody.
Sat, Apr 25, 2009
With the feel of an independent film, "The Soloist" sheds light on the plight of inner city homelessness by portraying mental illness, drug abuse, prostitution and a myriad of other social ills while maintaining a sense of realism.
Wed, Apr 22, 2009
Ah, Fellini. Ah, "Amarcord!" This lusty, luscious lulu of a movie, a paean to the director’s Italian childhood in the 1930's, ranks high in the pantheon of imagined memories turned art.
Wed, Apr 15, 2009
In every instance during his travels, Béla Fleck plays and records with some of the best artists that each African nation has to offer, from the well-known to the unknown.
Mon, Apr 13, 2009
Inspired by the 2006 bestseller of the same title, Gomorra is a bleak, oppressive, sometimes bloody look into the all-too real world of organized crime where it’s all about three things — to kill, to score, and to make money.
Wed, Apr 01, 2009
With an opening sequence that is as startling as getting sucker-punched by a Mack truck, Sunshine Cleaning is a brilliant piece of cinema containing a seamless blend of smartly-written comedy and sincere, emotional drama.
Wed, Mar 25, 2009
Film Review: John Malkovich has always excelled at playing widely diverse characters from the disturbed, would-be presidential assassin in In the Line of Fire to the fired C.I.A. analyst in Burn After Reading. But never has he been more brilliant in such an eccentric, comedic role than as a demanding yet sympathetic mentalist in The Great Buck Howard.
Wed, Mar 18, 2009
Film Review: Superheroes and superstars alike are conspicuously absent from Kelly Reichardt’s meditative Wendy and Lucy, an independent film whose throwaway budget of $200,000 would not be enough to pay for an intern’s cup of coffee on the set of Watchmen.
Mon, Mar 16, 2009
Film Review: We know from the moment we meet Leonard (Phoenix) that his desire to continue on with this life is barely more than his desire to move on to the next.
Wed, Mar 11, 2009
Teachers are the most underpaid professionals in the entire world. It’s hard to comprehend the stress they endure unless you have walked in their shoes, but a realistic glimpse into this noble profession is captured in The Class.
Mon, Mar 09, 2009
Ultimately, as the Doomsday Clock counts down to midnight and Armageddon, it becomes a race against time to find out who is manipulating events that may spark an all-out nuclear war between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union.
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