Screen
Diving into a sticky situation
Conflict is the heart of cinema. Conflict drives the plot and draws the audience and practically every movie revolves around it. Yet, only a select few have the audacity to dive into what fuels that conflict and, to borrow a line from The Rules of the Game, ...
What happens when a son sets out to profile his father?
The documentary film Old Man is as much a story of a troubled, perhaps marginally dysfunctional family as it is the story of a troubled record store — and, in many ways, a dysfunctional town. The portrait of Boulder is not graceful. It’s a critique of the town’s ...
Cons, vexing
Despite its title and the fact that Will Smith continually mouth-dumps exposition about how pulling a con requires attention to detail, Focus is hella sloppy. It’s not just that genuinely thrilling “who’s playing who” moments bump up against a holistically ...
Best in show
The Boulder International Film Festival is the cherry on top for a town with an already-impressive film scene. Throw in some big stars, up-and-coming filmmakers, foreign favorites and fascinating documentaries and you’ve got the perfect weekend for a cinephile. Here’...
Please sir, may I have my job?
Sit down, Sartre. Writers/directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne get it a bit more right: Hell isn’t just other people. Hell is asking other people to surrender their bonuses so you can keep your job. Two Days, One Night is a harrowing social allegory, a dramatic ...
Shadyac’s Travels
The artist’s life is one of constant searching. Theirs is a restless journey, one constantly straining to see over the next horizon — and filmmaker Tom Shadyac’s journey has taken some unexpected turns that have finally brought him to Boulder...
To God, there is no zero
They called them “B-Movies,” genre films (westerns, noir, horror, sci-fi, etc.) made on shoestring budgets with leads played by actors, not stars, and directors who were journeymen, not auteurs. The 1950s were their heyday and they played great on a rainy Saturday ...
I’m-a let you finish, but…
I love it when people argue about whether a certain year was “good” or “bad” for film. It is one of the sillier movie debates a person can have, ranking only behind “Best Adam Sandler Movie” and “Worst Moment in the Star Wars Prequels.” Every year is a good year ...
