A Second Look At "True Grit"

Last night, I began what I thought would be a live-blog of True Grit. I scrapped it without posting as it was basically a series of line quotations; presumably you don't come to the blog to watch me take dictation.It's a testament to the Coen Bros singular voice and gift with language that they can launch a movie with a particularly evocative scriptural quotation "The wicked flee when none

"Different Places" (Critics Awards & Dragon Tattoos)

Please read the title in your best exasperated Nomi Malone voice. Plz and thx. I can't read the words "different places" without hearing Showgirls in my head.The big critics prizes (Los Angeles and New York) have come and gone but more cities are following suit declaring their bests. Now, by the magic of the expandable post, we can share them all without appearing to be as dull obsessive and

7 Word Reviews: True Grit, The Illusionist. Somewhere

Because this week is about trying to keep up with screenings, interviews and endless precursor announcements, here are some very very short reviews.The IllusionistA magician in the twilight of his career, finds companionship in a young woman. 7WR: Slow but just sublimely rendered. Devastating finale. B+/A-?All Good ThingsUnsolved mystery from the 80s about a wealthy heir and his missing wife.7WR:

My Favorite Thing About "The Fighter" Is...

I saw The Fighter last week and didn't even deliver a "this is all the time I have" 7 word review. I have more than 7 words on this one though what follows is not a traditional review. The first thing I tweeted was...It still applies. Yep, Christian Bale is doing his best work ever in the co-lead role of Dicky Eklund (Let's call it The Fighters) or at least his best since American Psycho (2000).

I Love Like You Phillip Morris

Jim Carrey adds a little swish to his familiar physical dexterity as con-man Steven Russell in I Love You Phillip Morris. His rubber face sad-comic mask falls hard for mild-mannered Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), while both are in prison. Their affair prompts much elaborate scheming from Steven about how to bust them out.The film's strange and gleefully offensive comic tone comes courtesy of

Welcome to "Burlesque"

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Care for some turkey? Cher, XTina and gay filmmaker Steve Antin shall provide a succulent bird. If you’ve been looking forward to the new musical BURLESQUE, relax. I come not to disparage the movie, but to (mostly) praise it. Consider this a corrective protest. It will prove too easy a target for critics and haters, who often seem to despise girlie or flashy movies

7 Word Reviews: From Rapunzel to Woody

Until I find more time... 7 words must suffice.Tangled Disney's animated Rapunzel musical (Skip the 3D, save money.)7WR: Gorgeously rendered central image / conflict. Tonal slips.  B+[More to come on this one soon. Sorry for wait.]You Will Meet a Tall Dark StrangerWoody Allen's annual comedy. This one focuses on a failed writer (Josh Brolin) whose new work just doesn't measure up to the old (

7 Word Reviews: Made in Dagenham, Stone, 127 Hours, Etc...

Can you feel Oscar precursor season gearing up?Left: Aron Ralson as himself.Right: James Franco as Aron RalstonThe mountaintops are a-rumbling. To delude myself into thinking I've "caught up" before the avalanche, herewith seven word reviews on a bunch of movies I haven't got around to talking about just yet. More to come on three of them.127 HoursIn which James Franco plays Aron Ralston who is

Review: "Hereafter"

Clint Eastwood, now 80 years old, has never been more regular. Somewhere between the months of October and December each year, comes a new Eastwood picture for your consideration... or "For Your Consideration" if you're a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In some years, like 2006 (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima) or 2008 (Changeling and Gran

Should Case 39 be open or shut? Half and half for a laugh, perhaps?

Craig here, taking a look at Renée Zellweger's new cinema release. (There are a few mild spoilers contained)Case 39 stars Zeéeeee as Emily Jenkins, a concerned social worker in a headband. She’s worried about the well being of a child. We’re more worried about her personal hair-care regime: when her hair is up, fixed in place with said headband, she’s out of danger; hair down means terror is

Facebook Go Boom

"Dating you is like dating a stairmaster," Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) says, exasperated, in the opening sequence of THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Her personal stairmaster is Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and you're witness to a car wreck of a break-up in progress. It's emotionally gorey but there will be rubbernecking; you can't look away. If the hilarious stairmaster line doesn't

NYFF: "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives"

*slight spoilers ahead but this is not a "plot" film.*Uncle Boonmee can recall his past lives. My memory is hardly as uncanny. Recalling or describing Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, the Cannes Palme D'Or winner and Thailand's Oscar submission, even a few days after the screening is mysteriously challenging. Even your notes won't help you.This is not to say that the movie isn't

7 Word Review: The Social Network

Screwball sharp dialogue meets riveting bad behavior.(A-?)I'll get to a fuller review soon. Screened it at 9 AM this morning and I'm already desperate to see it again. The film has its big premiere tonight at the NYFF. Expect another torrent of crazed "buzz" to follow. That word is often used interchangeably with "hype" in Oscar punditry and online discourse -- I use it incorrectly myself I

NYFF: "Poetry"

Nathaniel, reporting from the New York Film FestivalIn the first shots of Poetry, the latest film from gifted director Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine) an idyllic moment of little kids playing by a river is interrupted by a floating object in the water. The corpse of a middle school student is floating their way. This nonsensational but horrific reveal will soon intersect with the story of Mija (

Easy A Review

Is it better to blend in or stand out?It's a question everybody must have asked themselves at some point or another, particularly in the (peer) pressure cooker of high school. Easy A is about a good student named Olive (Emma Stone) who blends in. One day, ashamed of a lame weekend she spent alone at home, she lies to her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) and makes up a story. The lie

Emma Stone Gets an Easy A

Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles. Winona Ryder in Heathers. Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. Reese Witherspoon in Election. Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls. Ellen Page in Juno. You're already smiling reading the list. Is there anything quite as sparkly as a breakthrough actress in a high school comedy? This weekend a shimmering new student transfers in to Movie High.In Easy A, a new comedy from

TIFF (False) Day One and "The Trip"

Lev Lewis from the Toronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival begins anew and with it my annual and indispensable musings. Well, scratch out indispensable and change musings to ramblings and you most likely have a good approximation of the coming week. Many thanks to Nathaniel for indulging me. TIFF got off to a late start for me this year. A full two days of the