Author:   Ken Hanke

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Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler May 4-10: Remember Captain America (Like you could forget)

Posted on by Ken Hanke

In Theaters. All right. Here it is. Summer is “officially” here according to Hollywood. (I could swear it was “officially” here once already this spring, but I guess that was a test case.) Here we have the movie that’s so big that not only does nothing — apart from a single lonely art title locally […]

Starring: Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Dean Norris, Bruno Ganz, Henry Czerny, Jurgen Prochnow

Remember

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: An octogenarian — with some kind of dementia — is sent to hunt down and kill a former Nazi guard from Auschwitz. The Lowdown: A pretty preposterous concept that almost transcends its unbelievable premise by virtue of Christopher Plummer's performance — and which is rarely less than entertaining.
Starring: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Theodor Loos, Ellen Widmann

M

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Fritz Lang's first talkie, 1931's M, definitely shows its age in terms of the technical aspects of early sound — though there's no denying it's a big improvement over his final silent, The Woman in the Moon (1929), which I've been working my way through for years. However, it still has the power to grip…
Starring: Moran Rosenblatt, Reymond Amsallem, Elisha Banai, Irit Kaplan, Shlomi Koriat, Tzvi Shissel

Apples from the Desert

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: This week, the Asheville Jewish Film Festival is showing the Israeli drama Apples from the Desert (2014). Moran Rosenblatt stars as Rebecca Abravanel, an only child who is unfulfilled by her strictly Orthodox life in modern Jerusalem, under the patriarchal hand of an unbending father (Shlomi Koriat) and a subservient mother (Reymond Amsallem).…
Starring: Loredana Detto, Sandro Panseri, Mara Revel, Guido Spadea, Tullio Kezich

Il Posto

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: By the time Ermanno Olmi made Il Posto in 1961, the Italian neo-realist movement (born more of circumstance than a desire to change film) was pretty much a thing of the past. His choice of making a film more or less in that style, however, seems more grounded in his work as a documentarian than…
Starring: Peter Ascoli, Julian Bond, Stephanie Deutsch, Richard J. Powell, Maya Angelou

Rosenwald

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: The opening-night film for this year's Fine Arts Asheville Jewish Film Festival is Aviva Kempner's Rosenwald (2015), an appealing film about the Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. The film is very much of a piece with Kempner's Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg (2009), which had the advertising tagline, "The Most Famous Woman You Never Heard Of." That's exactly…
Starring: Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, Herbert Lom, George Sanders, Tracy Reed, Graham Stark

A Shot in the Dark

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Designed as a follow-up to the original The Pink Panther (1963), A Shot in the Dark (1964) finds Blake Edwards and co-author William Peter Blatty turning to Harry Kurnitz’ play of the same name as a basis for the sequel. Using the play as a springboard gave the film the kind of form and structure that’s…
Starring: Don Cheadle. Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emayatzy E. Corinealdi, LaKeith Lee Stanfield

Miles Ahead

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Fantasticated — nearly phantasmagorical — biographical film on jazz great Miles Davis. The Lowdown: A radical — but completely accessible and richly entertaining — approach to the much disdained biopic genre. Propelled by a towering performance by director, co-writer and star Don Cheadle, this is what movies ought to be all about. See…

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler February 23-March: 1 Triple Eagle Son of Egypt & the World

Posted on by Ken Hanke

In Theaters. Three mainstream titles and two art ones head our way this week. I can’t honestly say it’s the most exciting-looking week I’ve ever seen, but neither is it the worst. I suppose there’s something to be said for a weekend that doesn’t actively make you want to hide behind the sofa till the […]

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler March 30-April 5: I Saw God’s Eye in the Sky — Plus AFS news

Posted on by Ken Hanke

In Theaters.  There’s nothing terribly exciting this week, but after last week’s mammoth blockbuster of Batman v Superman — not to mention the local art semi-blockbuster of Hello, My Name Is Doris — you almost have to expect a slump, especially since neither of those are likely to go away any time soon. But we […]

Starring: Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Ben Whishaw, Tom Conti, Alan Cumming, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina

The Tempest

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: There were few movies I was so looking forward to in 2010 than Julie Taymor's version of The Tempest. Unfortunately, it died (at $277,000 on a $20 million budget) long before it penetrated the provinces. Upshot? I, of course, snatched up the DVD as soon as possible. Result? Disappointment, but nowhere near the…
Starring: Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Massey, Dana Gillespie, William Hootkins

Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: It’s hard to imagine now, but when Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession came out back in 1980, it was a very big deal. The film was the talk of the film publications of the era. Not only was it Nicolas Roeg’s first film since The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), but it was the film…
Starring: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey. John McEnery, Milo O'Shea, Pat Heywood, Michael York

Romeo and Juliet

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: If there must be film versions of Mr. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet — and, since the movies have been churning them out in various forms for 116 years, it seems we must — then Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version is as good as any and better than most. It should, however, be noted that…
Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret. Claude Mann

The Army of Shadows

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Often called the "godfather of the New Wave" (a title he ultimately rejected), Jean-Pierre Melville is a hit-and-miss acquired taste — something of which The Army of Shadows (1969) is a perfect example. Coming right after his stylistic masterpiece Le Samourai (1967), Shadows is downright ordinary. Oh, it's well-made, well-acted and certainly solid. But…
Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Liberher, Adam Driver

Midnight Special

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Sci-fi allegory about a child with special powers. The Lowdown: Impressive, immersive tale that is almost equal parts rewarding and enigmatic, working on several levels at once. That it can't quite manage the ending it aims for doesn't matter as much as it might.
Starring: Jonathan Gold, David Chang, Laurie Ochoa, Ludo Lefebvre, Ruth Reichl, Allen Salkin

City of Gold

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Documentary about Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold. The Lowdown: Appealing, pleasant, thoroughly entertaining portrait of the food critic and the city he covers.

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler April 6-12: The Hardcore Demolition Midnight Boss of Gold

Posted on by Ken Hanke

In Theaters. Despite the not insignificant tumble Batman v Superman took in its second week, the mainstream fare remains on the lackluster side this week with only two new titles in that column, neither of which are particularly high-end. On the other hand, the art side of things is looking pretty good with no less […]

Starring: Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson

The Seventh Seal

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: The Seventh Seal is probably the single biggest old warhorse of art-house cinema. But there’s a reason it achieved that status: It’s so damned good. When it first appeared in 1957, it was not at all like anything else that had come before it. It wasn’t even like Bergman. Oh, sure, there had been…
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah Lewis, C.J. Wilson, Wass Stevens, Heather Lind

Demolition

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: An investment broker takes an unusual path to dealing with the death of his wife in a car wreck. The Lowdown: A surprising movie that manages to blend warmth, satire, casual absurdity and melodrama into a satisfying whole. One of the most appealing films to come our way this year.