handcrafted by maryann johanson (human) | 100% free of AIs and algorithms
Limp thriller is both overly earnest and naively preposterous. A mess of retro ideas about marriage and men, with a protagonist who lacks agency. There’s no suspense but plenty of misplaced moralizing.
Full of the Coen Brothers’ usual exuberant joie de cinema, and a helluva lot of fun, but too scattershot to ever settle on saying the things it has to say.
Danged if the flick don’t feel like the Coen Brothers, if it ain’t redolent with the wonderfully odd tang of farce and feeling that they invariably bring to, at least, their lighter films.
It’s not that I don’t like fluff: it’s that I don’t like dumb fluff. And yet clever fluff is so very rare. So of course I cheer a hearty “Hoorah!” for Duplicity.
Out February 9 in Region 2: • Burn After Reading [buy at Amazon U.K.]. From my green light review: Chad is one of those grand force-of-nature characters, like Chigurh, who cannot help but be at the center of something extraordinary — it just so happens that where he goes when he takes the reins is … more…
December can feel overwhelming, for movie watchers, with all the awards contenders flooding the arthouses — if you’re in New York and Los Angeles — and multiplexes this holiday season. But it’s always true, too, that films from earlier in the year manage to get notice from critics groups in the pre-Oscar-nominations territory… and some … more…
It’s still all about James Bond at the British box office: 1. Quantum of Solace: £2.9 million (4th week; drops 44%) 2. Body of Lies: £.99 million (NEW) 3. My Best Friend’s Girl: £.91 million (NEW) 4. High School Musical 3: Senior Year: £.6 million (5th week; drops 38%) 5. Zack and Miri Make a … more…
I think maybe I’ve figured out how Joel and Ethan Coen do it. How they move so effortlessly from comedy to drama, from fluffy to forceful, from silly to solemn. It’s that they don’t think about tone or genre, at least not at the beginning: they just think about a character, and let him have his lead, and see where he takes them.
Update: A last-minute addition to my screening schedule this week: Happy-Go-Lucky [opens limited October 10]. This is the new one from Mike Leigh, who made the wonderful Vera Drake, though this one’s a comedy. It’ll be a selection at both the upcoming Toronto and New York film festivals. It’s another sloooow movie week for me, … more…
obsession: still Doctor Who (most recent episode blogging: “Journey’s End”) boyfriend: David Tennant as the Doctor (see my summer of Tennant and Hamlet) psyched: Burn After Reading (because the Coen Brothers are gods) dreading: Bangkok Dangerous (because it won’t screen for critics, and the Thai movie it’s based on wasn’t so hot, either) enemy: Anna … more…
sample sponsored post (sponsored) - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis risus odio.
