Since July 3 was the 81st birthday of filmmaker Ken Russell (who has been known to comment on these pages occasionally), I thought I’d use this week’s column to put forth the case for a full-blown DVD release of a restored version of his 1971 film, The Devils—a film many people consider to be his masterpiece.
Author: Ken Hanke
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WALL-E
The Story: Left on Earth to clean up the tons of waste left by humans, a robot develops a personality and falls in love with a visiting robot. The Lowdown: A brilliant first half and a more traditional second half result in an entertaining film that just never scales the heights intended.
Wanted
The Story: An office drone discovers he's really a born assassin when he's recruited by a secret society of killers. The Lowdown: Visually appealing -- sometimes beautiful -- and the very definition of action-packed, Wanted is also too hip for its own good, and so nihilistic (and glum about it) that it's a bit of…
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, July 4, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.
Scorpio
The Hendersonville Film Society will show Scorpio at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 6, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park in…
Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: Film clips in hell
Let’s pretend: You’re in hell, and ol’ Scratch will allow us our 10 favorite movie clips to watch for eternity.
I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname
I'll Never Forget What's'isname, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, June 27, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.
Then She Found Me
The Story: A 39-year-old woman on the verge of a new romance finds that she's pregnant by the husband who deserted her -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Lowdown: A witty, insightful and very clever comedy-drama that suffers a bit due to an unreasonably glammed-down star and some typical indie-formula drawbacks.…
The Ogre
The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Ogre at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 29, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park…
Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: The pleasures and perils of fandom
In many ways, nostalgia’s the key to the annual horror fanfest known as Monster Bash — or at least to a lot of it. But if you stop and think about it, it’s a weird kind of nostalgia once removed. It’s nostalgia for an era of horror pictures that few of us (and fewer all the time) experienced first-hand.
Lights! Camera! Stopwatch!
Filmmakers throughout the region will soon have their chance to get their Spielberg on. (After Crystal Skull, however, perhaps an alternate model might be advisable.) The 48 Hour Film Project returns for its fourth consecutive year in Asheville (the competition itself is 8 years old), taking place during one action-packed weekend. Starting at 7 p.m. […]
The 13th Alley
The Story: A mad killer stalks overage teens in a bowling alley. The Lowdown: A lot of people you never heard of and Robert Carradine flounder in this drab horror opus that wouldn't make the cut in the Wal-Mart DVD dump bin.
The Happening
The Story: An unknown force or disease or virus is causing mass suicides. Can a humble science teacher learn the cause and save himself and his rapidly diminishing charges? The Lowdown: A silly thriller with uninteresting characters -- who in real life might qualify for Darwin Awards -- and a preposterous plot.
The Incredible Hulk
The Story: Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk) is on the run from General Ross, who wants to use him to benefit the military. The Lowdown: An effective enough comic-book movie that suffers from a lackluster hero and the limitations of CGI.
Prospero’s Books
Prospero's Books, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, June 20, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.
Black Rainbow
The Hendersonville Film Society will show Black Rainbow at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 22, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park…
The Apple
The Apple is being shown by TV Eye as part of its Weird Wednesdays series Wednesday, June 25, at 9:30 p.m. at Asheville Brewing Company on Coxe Avenue.
Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: Rethinking the 90 percent rule
“Sturgeon’s Law” states that 90 percent of everything is crap. The concept started me thinking about how true it actually is or isn’t, so I took a look at a year’s worth of movie reviews — those from 2007.
Kung Fu Panda
The Story: A lazy panda is accidentally chosen to be the Dragon Warrior and must become a kung-fu master in order to save his valley from an evil leopard. The Lowdown: Visually striking, simply plotted and generally charming and entertaining, this movie makes for quality family entertainment.
You Don’t Mess With the Zohan
The Story: An Israeli superagent goes to New York City to follow his dream of becoming a world-class hairstylist. The Lowdown: Despite a few laughs and a fair number of surprisingly subversive ideas, this is your standard-issue random, lazy, sloppy Adam Sandler comedy.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Man Who Fell to Earth, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, June 13, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.