Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have been so consistent and so dependable for the last fifteen years, turning out high quality films every two to three years, that a new film from them doesn't seem to generate the buzz or excitement of a fresh, new talent.
Asghar Farhadi's A Separation is a riveting domestic drama that works equally well as a character study and a social critique.
One of the academically interesting consequences of the end of the cold war has been access to historical material that would not necessarily been available to Western historians while the Soviet Union was still in existence.
But rise they must, and rise they will, and when when the film remembers that fact (about twenty-five minutes from the end), Will Rodman (James Franco) does an abrupt 180 from gung-ho risk taker to cautionary Cassandra figure.
There is a difference, I suppose, between feeling genuine delight at a film and simply being grateful the makers didn't mess it up.
Memento is both better and worse than I remember it (no pun intended).
My advice: don't sleep for a day before you go and drink about two liters of your favorite caffeinated beverage. Then see how long you can go without blinking.
Bad Teacher has a lot of problems. Or, rather, it has one problem that could be described a lot of different ways: it isn't funny.
Many years ago, an exasperated student asked me "What is Pulp Fiction about?" After thinking for a few moments, I finally conceded, "It's about how much Quentin Tarantino likes making movies." I thought briefly after the screening of Super 8 how I would answer the same question. That one is a little easier: "It's about how J.J. Abrams likes him some Steven Spielberg."
The Hangover Part II is either a profound and mournful examination of human nature and the problem of living with sin in a world where redemption is not possible or it is a failed attempt at comedy.
