Film Topics

'Trashed'

Sep 26, 2013

'Trashed'

by Kaori Shoji

It’s hard to associate the uber-groomed, aquiline-profiled Jeremy Irons (“Damage,” “Die Hard: With a Vengeance”) with garbage. But in the documentary “Trashed,” which focuses on the problem of global waste, Irons wallows in it.

'Heaven's Gate'

Sep 26, 2013

'Heaven's Gate'

by Giovanni Fazio

The 1970s are fondly remembered now as an insanely creative and risk-taking era for American cinema, and there’s one infamous film that is generally blamed for bringing it all to a crashing halt: “Heaven’s Gate.” Director Michael Cimino had cleaned up at the Oscars ...

'Warm Bodies'

Sep 26, 2013

'Warm Bodies'

by Giovanni Fazio

Most zombie movies look at the undead and decide they’re a problem best solved with a bullet to the head. But director Jonathan Levine gives us “Warm Bodies,” which suggests that when World War Z comes, all you’ll need is love. R. (Nicholas Hoult) ...

'The Frozen Ground'

Sep 26, 2013

'The Frozen Ground'

by Kaori Shoji

Based on a serial-killer spree in Anchorage, Alaska, in the late 1970s/early ’80s, “The Frozen Ground” draws solid performances from an A-list cast but somehow falls short on terror. Writer/director Scott Walker is careful to maintain a dark, understated mood that blends in quite ...

'Soshite Chichi ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son)'

Sep 19, 2013

'Soshite Chichi ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son)'

by Mark Schilling

The English and Japanese titles of Hirokazu Koreeda’s dual-family drama “Soshite Chichi ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son)” are quite different in meaning, but both express something important about this extraordinary film, winner of the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The ...

'Elysium'

Sep 19, 2013

'Elysium'

by Giovanni Fazio

On the one hand “Elysium” is the last of this year’s summer blockbusters, the new Matt Damon star vehicle and the Hollywood debut by South African director Neill Blomkamp, acclaimed for his debut aliens-among-us feature “District 9.” On the other, this is a political ...

'Chronicle'

Sep 19, 2013

'Chronicle'

by Kaori Shoji

The found-footage thing: It can be addictive. Though as a movie ploy, it always stumps me how the characters would actually go into a dark woods in the middle of the night (“The Blair Witch Project”) or move their family into a house where ...

'Byzantium'

Sep 19, 2013

'Byzantium'

by Giovanni Fazio

The post-”Twilight” boom in all things vampire continues, but this latest undead flick comes from Irish director Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game”), whose 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice’s “Interview With the Vampire” well preceded the current trend. Clara and Eleanor are “sucreants” — vampires ...

'Despicable Me 2'

Sep 19, 2013

'Despicable Me 2'

by Kaori Shoji

Two things stand out about 2010 animated comedy “Despicable Me”: The hero, Gru (Steve Carell), is a villain (a philosophical oxymoron in itself), and he’s not that despicable. Sure, he freeze-dries people in front of him in line at Starbucks and tries to grab ...

'Zero Dark Thirty'

Sep 19, 2013

'Zero Dark Thirty'

by Giovanni Fazio

Director: Kathryn Bigelow Language: English Kathryn Bigelow’s study of the decadelong hunt for Osama bin Laden will either fascinate or infuriate. Shown through the eyes of an iron-willed intelligence analyst (played by Jessica Chastain), the film insists that it was one woman’s hunch — ...

'Blood (Japan title: Land's End: Yami no Koto)'

Sep 19, 2013

'Blood (Japan title: Land's End: Yami no Koto)'

by Kaori Shoji

Director: Nick Murphy Language: English Chilling British crime thriller “Blood” stars Paul Bettany and Stephen Graham as cop brothers investigating the murder of a 12-year-old girl in a coastal town. Under the glare of public outrage, Joe (Bettany) tries to nail the most likely ...