March 2010
5 posts
2 tags
Repo Men (2010) review
Does anyone else see the irony in a giant corporation like Universal Pictures releasing this film about an evil giant corporation? Repo Men is the latest in a long line of “capitalism gone wrong” movies—set in the past (Heaven’s Gate), present (Silkwood) and future (take your pick, Robocop, etc, etc.).
It seems (in the near future) the “Union” (a curious...
6 tags
Miss London Ltd. (1943) and Bees in Paradise...
Comedian Arthur Askey had been performing for nearly two decades before the radio programme “Band Waggon” premiered in 1938. The popularity of these broadcasts led to a film version in 1940, followed by 7 more starring pictures in quick succession, concluding with Bees in Paradise (1944). Askey’s career continued well into the 1970s (he died in 1982), but mostly on television...
4 tags
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) review
I don’t travel much. Perhaps that’s one reason why I enjoy international cinema, especially films which convey a particular sense of time, place, and society, though not necessarily in an anthropological way. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (the original Swedish title translates to “Men Who Hate Women”) could be set in almost any country—indeed, rumours of Hollywood...
5 tags
Alice in Wonderland (2010) review
Watching Alice in Wonderland is a bit like being served tacos at a Chinese restaurant. Or seeing a performance of “Troilus and Cressida” performed by trained gerbils. It’s entertaining alright, but hardly what one expected. An amalgam of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “Through the Looking Glass” (indeed, the poem “Jabberwocky”...
3 tags
Green Zone (2010) review
Psst! Want to lose some money? Make a movie about Iraq! Green Zone is the latest proof of that axiom (Hurt Locker’s theatrical release was “selective,” so its pre-Oscar box-office strength was hard to judge).
Iraq movies don’t bother me, per se, and I have no political axe to grind (middle-of-the-road Dave, they call me), but Green Zone fails in some fundamental ways,...
