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Category: Film Reviews (Page 1 of 2)

What We Talk About When We Talk About Theatre: “Birdman” Review

Birdman

But how can we talk about Birdman? It, like Raymond Carver’s elusive love, cannot be talked about but only around. It can only be seen in contrast to what is not seen, its presence detected by way of what it moves, and creates, like wind in the trees or antibodies in the blood. In contrast to the sticker taped on Riggan Thomson’s dressing room mirror (“A thing is a thing, not what is said about that thing”), sometimes a thing can only be understood by what is said about the thing. That’s why we say things about things in the first place!

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Answered Prayers: “Foxcatcher” Review

Foxcatcher2

In the closing moments of Bennett Miller’s 2005 film Capote, director Bennett Miller tells us that “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.” Foxcatcher tells a similar tale. It is cold in the same way that Miller’s Capote is cold, a pensive progression of events that will soon go awry in the pursuit of answering prayers. Miller abstains from the temptation of indulging in pity or judgement, but instead opts for a detached examination of the eddies created by circumstances of misfortune.

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(Don’t!) Let the Beat Drop: “Whiplash” Review

whiplash

Like the title suggests, Whiplash is a jarring and explosive event, striking with a force and power that stuns and reverberates for moments to come. Director Damien Chazelle doesn’t direct a film so much as he conducts an orchestra, leading with a barrage of percussion and brass then, deftly, employs gentle finely-tuned writing to create a lasting spectacle whose final notes echo reverberantly among stunned viewers.

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Steady Hands. No Fast Pans. Don’t Use the Zoom. “Nightcrawler” Review

Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler wants to be noir in the same way that Lou Bloom wants to be a cinematic auteur, clinging with tight desperation to an idea that can never fully come to fruition. Instead it lurks in shadows and creates a quiet, pensive beauty grown from a horror that should deeply disturb us but instead only brings immense satisfaction. This is the paradox that Lou Bloom, thief-turned-handyman-turned-freelance videographer, finds himself caught in, to his slight annoyance and our sheer disgust.

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Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.

nonstop

Jaume Collet-Serra’s new film Non-stop unfolds with the elegance and suspense of a classic Hitchcock film in our modern era. Through clever storytelling and progression of events, Non-stop takes us aboard an exciting ride and refreshingly puts our paranoia on edge to keep us guessing until the end.

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Fear and Gloating in Rhode Island

THE CONJURING

It starts with a doll. Wide glassy eyes, grinning eerily into the camera. We listen to the story of a mere child’s play object, a symbol of displaced love, affection, and desire that becomes twisted and corrupted into an object of deceit, jealously and malice by dark spirits.  In a nutshell, this is the story at the core of The Conjuring, a tale of displaced joy and attention that so steeply turns from playful to deadly. This is the story of the real life Perron family whose love for their new home, joy for new life sours into hatred and fear.

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Sailing to “Elysium”

Elysium

Elysium, the newest film from Neill Blomkamp, the creator of District 9 once again forces us into a world where the unspoken social undercurrents of our modern world are thrust into light. The post-apartheid era of District 9 gives way to a stark, segregationist landscape reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. On Earth, we experience Los Angeles in the year 2154, a wretched hive of scum and villainy if there ever was one. Citizens of Earth live under the distant glimmer of Elysium, an Edenic off-world haven. Those wealthy enough to flee the plague-ridden Earth have made Elysium their utopian home, while the less fortunate have been left to toil by the sweat of their brows.

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