Winter’s Bone: flimsy plot backgrounded by real poverty and catastrophic social problems
Debra Granik, “Winter’s Bone” (2010) Source: www.mirror.co.uk Meet Ree Dolly: she’s a 17-year-old girl caring
Ran: stock characters make this film merely good, not truly great
Akira Kurosawa, “Ran” (1985) “Ran” (“Chaos” or “Revolt”) was Kurosawa’s last attempt at creating and filming
Uncategorized
Nazi Literature in the Americas: Bolano novel could have been shorter and better
Robert Bolano, “Nazi Literature in the Americas” (translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews), Picador,
French and French-language Films
La Fille du Rer: film of connections that doesn’t quite connect
Andre Techine, “La fille du RER (The Girl on the Train)”, Strand Releasing (2009) Not
French and French-language Films
Playtime: Tati celebrates human values but needed machine values to make it
Jacques Tati, “Playtime”, Madman Cinema / The AV Channel, DVD (1967) Source: www.lauradors.com
French and French-language Films
Belle de Jour: Bunuel turns a trashy soap opera plot into rich satire
Luis Buñuel, “Belle de Jour” (1967) It’s got a trashy premise – a rich doctor’s
Let Me In: Reeves “lets the right one in” to smother his version’s potential
Matt Reeves, “Let Me In”, Hammer Films / Overture Films (2010) Once upon a time
Buried: film just manages to avoid burying itself with gimmicks and diversions
Rodrigo Cortes, “Buried” (2010) For a one-trick pony in which the trick is one man
The Life of Oharu: unsentimental historical drama of one woman’s downfall
Kenzo Mizoguchi, “The Life of Oharu”, Shintoho (1952) This is an excellent film about a
Mother (by Bong Joonho): force of nature that can’t be pigeon-holed
Bong Joonho, “Mother” (2008) There aren’t many good movies these days where the central character