Tag: 2012
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Kids gone wild in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers
Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers was hotly buzzed about on release, but eventually settled down to a 63 on Metacritic and 3-stars-out-of-five on Letterboxd. Both of which aren’t great, but a lot higher than my personal estimation. This would be certainly not the first time my personal reaction to a movie has been against the consensus,…
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A Clique of Cranks: Room 237
Room 237 is not about The Shining. It is about those lost in its labyrinth. For better or for worse, Stanley Kubrick is one of the most potent gateway drugs for young cinephiles, and for many the early obsession proves lifelong. The addictive nature of his films is partly due to their own air of…
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Every line must rhyme in Les Misérables
Les Misérables left me coldNothing shown and everything told All that hollering and shriekingLeaves my head aching Every line must rhymeAcross its excessive running time No subtlety of emotionThe screen filled with commotion Eddie Redmayne sings a song atop a pile of doorsMy god what a bore Hugh Jackman sheathes his clawsTo grimace and overemote…
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This is 40 was made by comedians, for comedians
Because you demanded it: a sequel to Knocked Up! Oh wait, you didn’t? Neither did I. Even as an admitted “dramedy”, Judd Apatow’s This is 40 is a major bummer. Laugh and cry as you watch a couple deal with the same problems ordinary people can relate to: what to do with their rewarding jobs,…
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The Three Hour Avalanche: Cloud Atlas
Books are books, and movies are movies. I usually don’t want or expect any adaptation to copy its source — in fact, it’s usually in everyone’s best interests for a derivative work to strive to be its own thing, and not… well, derivative. But Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis‘ Cloud Atlas turned out to be…