by HELEN GEIB
The Incredible Hulk follows Iron Man as the second in a planned series of films produced by Marvel Enterprises and adapted from popular Marvel comic books. Scientist Bruce Banner and his super strong, rage-filled, green alter-ego The Hulk are the subjects of a long running comic book series (and appear in crossover stories in other Marvel series) and previous TV and movie adaptations. Prior success is a double-edged sword to a comic book movie. On one side is a loyal fan base and high public recognition of the title; on the other, the artistic constraints imposed by fandom-demanded fidelity to the source and the sometimes conflicting brief to create a work that will appeal to an essentially indifferent public. (more…)
by TOM NIXON
When Wesley Gibson’s (James McAvoy) voiceover starts ranting about his miserable failure of a life at the beginning of Wanted, you almost expect Brad Pitt to pop up and burn down his apartment. His boss is a bitch, his girlfriend is a bitch, and he’s a pansy who just doesn’t know who he really is. We find all this out through a series of incredibly QUIRKY examples which childishly imitate similar scenes from Fight Club. Fox (Angelina Jolie) tells Wesley that he apologizes too much, and he says “I’m sorry about that.” He then says “I’m sorry” at about 6 inappropriate points in the film. This is the level of humor we’re dealing with. (more…)
by HELEN GEIB
Vantage Point assembles a cast of talented and experienced middle-aged American actors (Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver) and some other people (mostly good-looking young foreigners I didn’t recognize) and sets them frantically running about at the service of a standard issue ”foil the terrorists” plot. The gimmick - and the gimmick’s the point of the movie - is that the story unfolds in segments, with each segment told from a different character’s point of view. Each person sees or knows or does something that contributes a piece of the jigsaw puzzle. It’s Rashomon for the post-24 world. (more…)
by HELEN GEIB
Sangre de Mi Sangre is the remarkable writing debut of Christopher Zalla, who also directed. It is a powerful tragedy with four principal characters that plays out over just a few days and is set mostly in a small area in Brooklyn. (more…)
by HELEN GEIB
The movies are a strange and sometimes inexplicable business. Case in point: the commercial failure of Honeydripper. Honeydripper is the newest film by writer-director John Sayles, one of America’s foremost independent filmmakers. It is a very good movie. It is also by all outward measures Sayles’ most commercial film (not excepting the studio made Eight Men Out, handicapped by a downbeat story), yet it only received what I will charitably describe as a token theatrical release. It warrants a large and enthusiastic audience, and I hope it will find it on DVD. (more…)
by HELEN GEIB
The superb new film by German writer-director Fatih Akin, The Edge of Heaven tells one story about six people in three acts. Its subject is the relationships between parents and their adult sons and daughters. Its mood is a sustained and subtle emotional intensity. (more…)
by HELEN GEIB
My pick this week is another film I haven’t seen yet but would like to, Lebanon’s Caramel. It’s the kind of small foreign film that’s hard to see except on DVD, even when you live in one of the few cities where it plays theatrically. It got good critical notices, but mostly I’m interested in it because it’s a window to a seldom seen world. It’s a women’s beauty salon movie (are there enough of these films now to call that a genre?) set in Beirut and telling the stories of a disparate group of Christian and Muslim women. The plot descriptions suggest the women were written to be a cultural cross-section of the city, and the reviews that the characterization and performances make them more than just types. (more…)
by TOM NIXON
Yep, it’s that time again. Time for M. Night Shyamalan’s periodic descent from the skies to shepherd his diminishing flock; a few words of wisdom here, an enlightened phrase there. It’s what we all need, right? You seem unconvinced - the trailer did look kind of stupid, didn’t it? This is because Shyamalan doesn’t give a crap about telling coherent, interesting stories anymore. (more…)
by HELEN GEIB
It’s a good time to be a movie martial arts fan in America. The Forbidden Kingdom, a splendid homage to Hong Kong martial arts fantasies, has just left theaters and now along comes the animated comedy Kung Fu Panda, a thoroughly delightful homage to Hong Kong kung fu movies. (more…)
by HELEN GEIB
More Treasures from American Film Archives 1894-1931 is the second in a series of four box sets produced under the auspices of The National Film Preservation Foundation. The series is a showcase for the vital work being done by American film archives to preserve neglected films. (more…)
