"Think you have what it takes to make a zombie movie? Meet Emily."
Jason Whyte says... "Back at this year’s South By Southwest in Austin, I briefly met a young girl named Emily Hagins with her mother Megan, as they were leaving the Paramount after a crazy, three-months-early midnight screening of Sam Raimi’s terrific picture “Drag Me To Hell”. My friend Scott Weinberg (who used to help run this wonderful site and is now helping run Cinematical) introduced us, and the first thing I thought was “What kind of mother takes her teenage daughter to a midnight movie?” The name sounded familiar to me, so I quickly asked Scott where I had heard that name before. I then quickly found out that Emily directed a movie in Austin when she was 12 years old, and my thoughts immediately changed from reservation to “That’s one cool mom to take her teenage daughter to a midnight movie!”" (more)
brianorndorf says... "“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” isn’t an ambitious, event movie sequel in the same fashion as perhaps “Ice Age: The Meltdown” was softly gunning for. It’s more of an agreeable installment of television than a magnificent animated effort. This is not a criticism. In fact, it’s perhaps the reason why “Dawn” is such a charming film. With a relaxed mood, a playful cast, and a plot that doesn’t sweat itself into a pointless sense of importance, “Dawn” is mild sauce but tremendously entertaining, with an easy-peasy celebratory attitude that extends to the picture’s lively 3-D visual scheme." (more)
brianorndorf says... "It started with “Ali.” There, revered director Michael Mann cautiously backed away from the stiff mechanics of traditional storytelling to form his own cinematic language, armed with a marathon script and liberating HD cameras. The John Dillinger gangster tale “Public Enemies” represents the implosion of Mann’s balloon of progress. In chasing his own insufferable visual punctuation and distancing performance needs, Mann swings and misses hard with “Enemies,” gathering an enviable platter of cold stares, blasting Tommy Guns, and lustful smirks, but losing himself in the deafening filmmaking affectation. Rarely has a wonderland of hardened gangsters, flighty dames, and widescreen bank robbing been rendered this lifeless." (more)
brianorndorf says... "Ahh, yes, there’s no better time of year to issue a film titled “I Hate Valentine’s Day” than the weekend celebrating the Fourth of July holiday. I suppose you could label it clever counterprogramming, but I’m more inclined to consider the release date as the latest in a long series of bad ideas when it comes to this bland, winded motion picture." (more)
Erik Childress says... "SCREENED AT THE 2009 CINEVEGAS FILM FESTIVAL: When will people learn that infidelity and crime just don’t mix? I suppose when filmmakers stop putting in them in such positions because they make such darn entertaining movies. Consider all of the directors who have made their marks within the crime and thriller mold. Clint Eastwood started with Play Misty For Me, David Mamet took con games to new heights in House of Games and Quentin Tarantino got his start with a warehouse full of thieves in Reservoir Dogs. The list goes on and on. But there’s a unique correlation between filmmaker brothers working within a noir background that really exudes promise. In 1985 we were introduced to the talents of Joel & Ethan Coen with Blood Simple. 1996 brought us a terrific pre-Matrix Wachowski Brothers effort called Bound. Nash Edgerton worked as a stuntman on those Matrix sequels and, while the connection may be little more than coincidence, along with his brother, Joel, have crafted a solid thriller in the vein of the Wachowski’s Bound and yet one that stands on his own." (more)
"Lifestyles of the Criminally Rich and Infamous..."
Mel Valentin says... ""Public Enemies," Michael Mann’s ("Miami Vice," "Collateral," "Ali," "The Insider," "Heat," The Last of the Mohicans," "Manhunter," "The Keep") latest magnum opus (and the first since the underwhelming remake/reboot of his 80s television series, "Miami Vice"), brings him back to the urban-crime genre he first began exploring in the 1980s on television ("Crime Story," "Miami Vice") and on film ("Thief"). Stepping away from a contemporary setting for only the second time in his career as a filmmaker ("Crime Story" was set in the 1960s), Mann has crafted a frustratingly uneven crime-biopic of John Dillinger, the notorious 1930s gangster who died outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago on July 22, 1934 after a brief, bloody reign as America’s “Number 1 Public Enemy.”" (more)
Peter Sobczynski says... "Michael Mann‘s “Public Enemies” is an endlessly fascinating examination of one of the key events in our nation’s history of criminal behavior--the crime spree committed by bank robber John Dillinger in the early 1930’s until he was finally brought down by Melvin Purvis, an agent from the newly-formed Federal Bureau of Investigation--that tells its tale in a sumptuously designed and minutely detailed fashion that manages to remain compelling despite its essential familiarity and featuring top-notch contributions from everyone on both sides of the camera. In other words, anyone walking into the film expecting just another gangster movie is going to come away shocked and surprised at what Mann has in store for them--a pop-art American epic that works equally well as a gripping action extravaganza and as a gorgeous art-house ravishment. The result is not only one of the best films of 2009, it is easily one of the very best films of its kind to come along since Brian De Palma’s “The Untouchables” and coming from someone who worships that film as highly as I do, that is strong praise indeed." (more)
"Sure To Be Taught In All Science Classes In President Palin's America"
Peter Sobczynski says... "As I have pointed out in this space several times in the last few months, 2009 is turning out to be a banner year in regards to feature-length animated films thanks to the appearance of such amazing works as “Azur & Asmar,” “Coraline,” “Sita Sings the Blues” and “Up,” not to mention the arrival of “Ponyo,“ the latest work from Japanese animation master Hiyao Miyazaki, in August. These were all films that were made not because the filmmakers were hoping to ride on the coattails of the popularity of another film or because it could potentially sell millions of dollars worth of toys, Happy Meals and other such junk--they were made because the people behind them had intriguing stories to tell and visually astonishing ways in which to help relate them. Although I can’t imagine any situation in which the likes of “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” could have ever come across as fresh and unique--it is, after all, the continuation of the enormously popular “Ice Age” (2002) and “Ice Age: The Meltdown” (2006)--the fact that it is coming out after those aforementioned films only highlights what a creatively bankrupt exercise it really is. Instead of finally trying to do something new and interesting with the material, the filmmakers are instead content to give viewers nothing that they haven’t seen before in the previous installments and even those who enjoyed those are going to come away from this one feeling bored and disappointed." (more)
"Although you should make time during this holiday weekend to sit down and watch the greatest 4th of July-themed film ever made, a little thing called “Jaws,” there are plenty of other things available this week to watch as well--a new DVD release of one of the great films of our time, the latest Uwe Boll joint, fenderheaded action extravaganzas, a couple of things for the kids and even an early appearance by the one and only Ms. Jovovich." (more)
"On the eve of a retrospective in Los Angeles and the release of all his films on DVD (many of which are making their U.S. debuts), the director of the cult classics "Diva" and "Betty Blue" looks back on his career." (more)
"Inhaling the badness of “The Karate Kid: Part III,” stunned by the insanity of “Great Balls of Fire!,” and polishing the “Do the Right Thing” trophy." (more)
"The legendary actor looks back at the 1982 film that marked his second and final collaboration with the late Hal Ashby, the circumstances surround its revival in a newly-reedited version and explains what went into one of the most memorable death scenes in movie history." (more)
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