Screen
Breathe in the Smaug
Things you should know by now: (1) All Peter Jackson-directed fantasy films near or top three hours in length; (2) there are deviations from the books because these are movies and not books — I’m told if you would like to read The Hobbit, you can still read The ...
Partly sunny
To steal from Mother Goose (don’t worry, she’s dead): When Cloud Atlas is good, it’s very, very good; when it’s bad, Hugo Weaving is doing a drag impression of Nurse Ratched. The ambition of writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Twyker, working from David...
Season’s screenings
Not since the pandemic of 2020 (and 2021, 2022...) has the film calendar looked this uncertain. A dual strike from the Writers Guild of...
You say you want a revolution?
The “99 percent vs. the 1 percent” analogy at work in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has all the subtlety of a funeral selfie. But it is precisely this lack of sophistication in message that may make this the most zeitgeist-capturing, intellectually resonant sci-fi ...
Losers, yet fun
Is there something written that good, enjoyable films have to make sense, be internally consistent and not have dumb continuity gaffes? I hope not, because that perfectly describes my reaction to The Losers, yet another Hollywood film based on a graphic novel. This...
Reel to reel | Week of July 26, 2012
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Peter Parker gets a new look (and an origin story) in this Marvel remake of everyone’s favorite web slinger. Unlike Toby Maguire’s emo-esque rendition of the wall-crawler, actor Andrew Garfield’s portayal hopes to bring Spidey back to his ...
‘Armored’: Terrible tough guys
Ever wonder what kind of guy drives an armored car full of cash? Yeah, I never did either, but that’s the environment that Armored presents us with: a bunch of edgy, tough-guy losers who somehow have ended up as employees of Eagle Shield Security...
How do you see the world?
A father is sick and the son is beckoned to his side. While the son waits for his father to die, he meets another wayward...
America at a crossroads and Bob Dylan on tour
In 1975, the U.S. was at a crossroads. The Vietnam War was over, and Americans were more disillusioned than ever. Big cities out east,...
reel to reel | Week of Nov. 24, 2011
3 Hanna and Simon, a couple in their early 40s, live together in Berlin. With their 20th anniversary looming, they both become restless. At Denver FilmCenter/Colfax. — Denver Film Society Arthur Christmas Arthur Christmas is not a perfect gift, but it does ...
Salute your shorts
It’s Oscar season at the movies and that means celebrating the cinematic high-water marks that 2016 brought. And with 62 nominated films to choose...
