Month: September 2012

Oscar 2012, Best Actor: Hail to the Chief

A handful of actors have been nominated for Oscars playing U.S. presidents. Jeff Bridges played a fictional one in The Contender, Alexander Knox was nominate for playing the president in Wilson, and Anthony Hopkins has been nominated twice: as Nixon, and John Quincy Adams in Amistad. Raymond Massey was nominated playing the title role in […]

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Film Noir: D.O.A.

Directed by Rudolph Mate, D.O.A., from 1950, is one of the classics of the film genre, a film ahead of its time that put off some early reviewers. It begins with one the greatest hooks in film history:  a long tracking shot of a man, from behind, walking through police headquarters. He enters the door […]

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Opening in Chicago, 09/28

Looper (trailer) Director: Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom) Personal Interest Factor: 9 I find I’m actually pretty excited for this one. I loved Brick (which was featured in the very first Openings), and I even enjoyed The Brothers Bloom, despite its unevenness, which really only affected the last third or so anyway. This has […]

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Review: The Master

I don’t know when I’ve been more confounded watching a film as I was with Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. It’s a bit like the philosophy espoused by the title character: it sounds great in the abstract, but when you look at it closely it’s a bunch of hooey. Anderson for me has been a […]

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Opening in Chicago, 09/21

End of Watch (trailer) Director: David Ayer (Harsh Times, Street Kings) Personal Interest Factor: 5 Combining two tiresome elements – the gritty street-level LAPD cop movie, and the found-footage movie. If I wanted to be a jerk about it, I’d also add “a Jake Gyllenhaal movie” to the list. Yet Ebert gave out a four-star […]

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Review: Arbitrage

Arbitrage is the kind of fun, slick, juicy entertainment that is immensely satisfying upon viewing. Only after a period of hours do the “wait a minutes” creep in, and you realize that you’ve been had, but enjoyably so. This is a reminder why it’s prudent to sleep on a film before reviewing it. Still, I […]

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Opening in Chicago, 09/14

Arbitrage (trailer) Director: Nicholas Jarecki (The Outsider) Personal Interest Factor: 7 Richard Gere plays a hedge fund guy who gets into some kind of trouble. Good trailer, and pretty solid reviews, and while I’ve never been a huge fan of Gere I do think that he’s underrated in some respects. Also with Tim Roth, Susan […]

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Review: Side by Side

“Is film dead?” That’s the central question of Chris Kenneally’s Side by Side, co-produced and narrated by Keanu Reeves. He speaks to many of the top directors of the day, plus several cinematographers, editors, and performers to judge whether the digital revolution in cinema is a good thing, a bad thing, or just another choice. […]

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Opening in New York, September 7

In order to keep our streak going, here’s a very abbreviated Openings section. Las Acacias (Pablo Giorgelli) Bachelorette (Leslye Headland) Beauty is Embarrassing (documentary) Detropia (documentary) Desperate Endeavors (Salim Khassa) The Eye of the Storm (Fred Schepisi) Green (Sophia Takal) Hello I Must Be Going (Todd Louiso) The Inbetweeners (Ben Palmer) Keep the Lights On […]

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Review: Lawless

Lawless, a not-so-great movie, is a production designer’s wet dream. Therefore, the first named in this review will be Chris Kennedy, who recreated prohibition-era Appalachia with such precision–the advertising signs, the cars, the wooden structures, the stills–that it was a marvel to take in. I also give great props to costume designer Margot Wilson and […]

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