Feb 3
The courtroom drama is often one of the easiest ways to showcase a morality play. The arguments can be posed by the attorneys and a jury can represent the conscious of the audience, siding with “right” when needed or providing a dose of controversy when that’s required. Many difficult issues have been explored in Hollywood films by using the courtroom as a construct. Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia is one of the best.
No less than the collapse of a doe-eyed young man’s faith in politics stands at the core of The Ides of March. This film, penned and directed by George Clooney, is not unlike many political films in that it smashes the illusion of goodness that few have with respect to the political realm. Nobody with any sense is surprised that the political game is unethical and chock-full of sleazy characters, but narratives like Clooney’s can make for good entertainment.
You can check out the rest of this review at The Ides of March Movie Review: Beware the Ides of Clooney over at my new haunt Cinema Sentries.
Based on Etgar Keret’s short story titled Kneller’s Happy Campers, Wristcutters: A Love Story is a tedious and strange exercise in film. Goran Dukić, a Croatian filmmaker, directed this 2006 comedy-romance-fantasy-whatever. Despite only clocking in at around 88 minutes, this movie feels like a long, disappointing bus ride to an uninteresting destination. And the bus has no bathroom.
If there’s anything that makes Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy work, it’s its tone. The Tomas Alfredson picture is based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré and treats us to an espionage culture that is not at all like the worlds of James Bond or even Jason Bourne. While the aforementioned spy series’ race with breakneck speeds and feature dazzling chases and hot babes, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is quiet, subtle and deliberate.
You can check out the rest of this review at Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Movie Review: A Well-Toned, Subtle Spy Thriller over at my new haunt Cinema Sentries.
The talents of Tupac Shakur are on full display in Juice, a 1992 crime drama directed by Ernest R. Dickerson. The film is a gritty and energetic one, brimming with violence and a focus on the transformative power of the streets. It explores the nature of violence and the reality of living in an environment in which violence is inevitable.
