Author Archives: fol.lowfoc.us

Movie of the Week: BABY DOLL

One of the highlights of the three-week festival of Elia Kazan movies playing the Film Forum October 9 through 29 is the controversial director's controversial 1956 white-trash comedy BABY DOLL. Condemned upon release by the Catholic League of Decency as … Continue reading →

Posted on October 11, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Microreview Roundup #21

DIAL 1119 [Mayer/1950] Taut little thriller about hostages in a bar; underdeveloped characters keep it from being more than a programmer. (AR) INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS [Tarantino/2009] Cinema contra Hitler via genre pastiche; often cartoonish & morally blurry but an imaginative conceit. … Continue reading →

Posted on October 9, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Drowning by Numbers

The wonktastic Ezra Klein gets mail: I am an independent film producer and I make films that typically cost somewhere between $5M and $10M. But when I make, say, an $8M film it has to compete at the same price … Continue reading →

Posted on October 8, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Movie of the Week: PYAASA

In addition to the main slate of new foreign and independent cinema, the 47th New York Film Festival will also feature the first U.S. retrospective of the great Hindi filmmaker, Guru Dutt. Hailed as “one of that cinema's great auteurs” … Continue reading →

Posted on October 2, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Movie of the Week: THE LOVERS ON THE BRIDGE

It’s been a long time since Leos Carax’s name was hot on the lips of cinephiles. His controversial Melville adaptation, POLA X, made its splash ten years ago now. Since then, not much has been heard from Carax: “My Last … Continue reading →

Posted on September 25, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Microreview Roundup #20

THE HEADLESS WOMAN [Martel/2008] Oblique mystery unfolds in cramped frames, obfuscated images & shallow focus. Scenes play out like puzzles. (DG) NEVER LET GO [Guillermin/1960] Bourgeois Brit take on THE BICYCLE THIEVES. Richard Todd's climb to near-hysteria makes it oddly … Continue reading →

Posted on September 24, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Microreview Roundup #19

UP [Doctor & Peterson/2009] Pixar GRAN TORINO a lumpy blend of routine Boy's Own adventure yarn and surprisingly poignant life lessons. (AR) ALIEN RAIDERS [Rock/2008] Spiffy but predictable genre cheapie about odd doings at the supermarket; shoulda kept guessing game … Continue reading →

Posted on September 22, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Movie of the Week: OVER THE EDGE

::Click on the image above to view the trailer:: Queasiness by the fledgling film company Orion over the potential for gang violence and subsequent misguided art-house release doomed OVER THE EDGE [Kaplan/1979] to box-office failure, but the smart social critique … Continue reading →

Posted on September 11, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Microreview Roundup #18

THE HURT LOCKER [Bigelow/2009] Riveting meditation on machismo taken to near psychotic extremes. Jeremy Renner amazes as a crazed bomb tech. (KS) SUMMER HOURS [Assayas/2009] Luxuriant family drama sets up sibling conflicts that never materialize. A tasty but slightly deflated … Continue reading →

Posted on August 29, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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Movie of the Week: PASSING STRANGE

The first time I heard the album SOMETHING DEEPER THAN THESE CHANGES [2003] by the black singer-songwriter known as Stew (also the front man of the Los Angeles band The Negro Problem) I didn't quite know what to make of … Continue reading →

Posted on August 28, 2009 by fol.lowfoc.us
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