Shutter Island

Perusing the various reviews and thoughts on Martin Scorsese's latest Shutter Island I found a lot of varying opinions among those I respect in the blogosphere. Based on these polarizing takes on the film I decided to needed to do something I rarely do and head out to the theater to see for myself what to make of Scorsese's film. Usually when something is this polarizing it means it's at least trying to attempt something beyond a mere genre exercise – which came as a surprise to me considering...

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Revisiting “John from Cincinnati”, Part One: His Visit Day One and Two

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Those were the days...

Essential reading alert: Jim Emerson (of course) of the fantastic and...oh what's the point...you all know by now.  Just head over to Scanners where Jim has posted an interesting question regarding why me may not see all of the "essential" or "classic" films (I added the quotation marks) we may desire to, or perhaps that we had the desire to seek out in our younger days.  It's an interesting question and one I felt compelled to respond to in his comments section.  The gist of the...

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Revisiting 1999: The Top Ten Films of the Year, #1 --- The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella)

Here's what I've covered so far...   The Top 10 Films of 1999: Intro: Introduction: The Best Films of 199910 - The Limey (Steven Soderbergh)9 - Affliction (Paul Schrader)8- American Movie (Chris Smith) 7- Rosetta (The Dardenne Brothers)6- Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze)5- The Insider (Michael Mann) 4- Three Kings (David O. Russell) 3- Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson) 2- Bringing Out the Dead (Martin Scorsese) Perhaps some of you are conjuring up images from T.S. Eliot right now...

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Revisiting 1999: The Top Ten Films of the Year, #2 --- Bringing Out the Dead (Martin Scorsese)

Here's what I've covered so far...   The Top 10 Films of 1999: Intro: Introduction: The Best Films of 199910 - The Limey (Steven Soderbergh)9 - Affliction (Paul Schrader)8- American Movie (Chris Smith) 7- Rosetta (The Dardenne Brothers)6- Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze) 5- The Insider (Michael Mann) 4- Three Kings (David O. Russell) 3- Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson) In a decade (specifically the years 1998 and 1999) most memorable for the new wave of American filmmakers, Martin Scorsese...

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Revisiting 1999: The Top Ten Films of the Year, #3 --- Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Here's what I've covered so far...   The Top 10 Films of 1999: Intro: Introduction: The Best Films of 199910 - The Limey (Steven Soderbergh)9 - Affliction (Paul Schrader)8- American Movie (Chris Smith) 7- Rosetta (The Dardenne Brothers)6- Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze) 5- The Insider (Michael Mann) 4- Three Kings (David O. Russell) Paul Thomas Anderson's overblown, operatic, and Über melodramatic morality play was one of the most audacious releases of the 90's. It took balls for Anderson...

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DVD Review: Birth

There's a great scene in Birth where Nicole Kidman's character Anna is sitting at a symphony and director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) just keeps the camera on her, letting the audience watch Anna's eyes as she tries to process the ridiculous notion that a 10 year-old boy is the reincarnation of her dead husband. It's a powerful moment in a film that contains layers upon layers of odd metaphysical goings-on. It's just one example of where Glazer and his screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière succeed...

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Quick Thoughts on Scorsese's Cape Fear

The first 20 minutes of Cape Fear is hilariously manic and are some of the best sequences Martin Scorsese has created. Scorsese's A.D.D gives the viewer the sense that anything can happen in this remake of the classic thriller starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck (both who have cameos in this film). Like Scorsese did with his other early 90's film The Age of Innocence, he punches up this rather ordinary thriller with all kind of visual trickery that distract from the fact that what you're...

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