Author:   Ken Hanke

Showing 484-504 of 5225 results
Starring: Barry Otto, Lynette Curran, Helen Jones, Gia Carides, Jeff Truman, Tim Robertson

Bliss

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Back in 1985, Ray Lawrence’s Bliss was the art house sensation. It had created quite a stir at Cannes — as much for the fact that about 400 viewers walked out of the movie in disgust (mostly at the same moment: the film’s notorious “sardine scene”) as from the accolades it drew. No Australian film had ever…
Starring: George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg, Charles Hallahan

Going in Style

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Martin Brest’s Going in Style (1979) is one of those inoffensive, but not particularly distinguished, little movies that come and go without leaving much of a mark. It’s very much a product of its time in that it was clearly spawned by George Burns’ renaissance after The Sunshine Boys (1975) and Oh, God! (1977). It’s also a surprisingly serious…
Starring: Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, Renan Ozturk, Jon Krakauer, Grace Chin, Jennifer Lowe-Anker

Meru

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Documentary about three men climbing Meru Peak in the Himalayas. The Lowdown: Good looking, sometimes incredibly tense mountain climbing documentary with effective use of biographical material.
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Heather Lind, Michael Chernus, Matthew Shear, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Cindy Cheung, Dean Wareham

Mistress America

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: An awkward college freshman meets her impending 30-year-old step-sister, and nothing will ever be the same. The Lowdown: Fast, funny, appealing, perfectly judged — a comedy and more — this may be Noah Baumbach's best film and it puts him in the running for having two of 2015's best films. Co-writer star Greta…
Starring: Leigh McCloskey, Irene Miracle, Eleonora Giorgi, Daria Nicolodi, Sacha Pitoëff, Alida Valli

Inferno

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Inferno has beautiful production design and is an almost endless stream of striking images. But because it's a Dario Argento picture, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. How much of its look is due to Argento and how much is due to an uncredited Mario Bava is hard to tell —…
Starring: Nanni Moretti, Laura Morante, Jasmine Trinca, Giuseppe Sanfelice

The Son’s Room

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: There’s nothing really wrong with writer/director/star Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room (2002), but neither is there anything all that special about it. It’s a small, well-intentioned study of a family coping with — and not coping with — the drowning death of the son. I enjoyed it well enough while it was onscreen. I even…
Starring: Steve Jobs (archive footage), Michael S. Malone, Chrisann Brennan, Regis McKenna, Michael Moritz, Sherry Turkle, Bob Belleville, Daniel Kottke, Joe Nocera, Jon Rubinstein

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Documentary on the life and works of Steve Jobs. The Lowdown: While Alex Gibney's film is far too long and sheds very little new light on Jobs' failings as a human being, the questions it raises about his cult status and the way he helped change the world make it worthwhile.
Starring: Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan, Sterling Jerins, Claire Geare, Sahajak Boonthanakit

No Escape

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: A family of guileless Americans find themselves in the midst of a bloody revolution in an unidentified Asian country. The Lowdown: Yes, it's appallingly xenophobic and casually racist, but this action picture is so dumb that it clearly has no agenda. A miscast Owen Wilson and Lake Bell run around looking menaced, while…

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler August 26-September 1: Best Diary of a Teenage Girl — and Some Other Stuff

Posted on by Ken Hanke

In Theaters. If it wasn’t for a couple of art titles, I’d frankly suggest you skip the movies altogether this week. There’s only one full-blown mainstream title (which looks pretty chancey) and two not-quite-wide releases (both of which look worse than chancey). Well, let’s go among them anyway. It is increasingly apparent that August is […]

Starring: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell Hobbes, Edgar Norton

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Rouben Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) is that rarest of things — a full-blown horror movie that also managed to get respect even when it was new. Fredric March won an Oscar for best actor for his performance. Karl Struss was nominated for an Oscar for cinematography, as were Percy Heath and Samuel…
Starring: Rupert Friend, Hanna Ware, Zachary Quinto, Ciarán Hinds, Thomas Kretschmann

Hitman: Agent 47

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: The genetically-engineered title character pursues a young woman in the hopes of getting to her missing father. The Lowdown: A witless mess that wastes a few good actors and provides a few unintended laughs, but hardly enough to make it worthwhile.
Starring: Gore Vidal (archive footage), William F. Buckley, Jr. (archive footage), Brooke Gladstone, William Sheehan, Sam Tanenhaus, Reid Buckley, Matt Tyrnauer

Best of Enemies

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Documentary about the televised Gore Vidal-William F. Buckley Jr. debates at the 1968 political conventions. The Lowdown: Entertaining look at two gigantic egos in conflict on national television — and of historical significance as the birth of the political TV pundit.
Starring: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James, Alfie Bass, Marjorie Fielding

The Lavender Hill Mob

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Though not one of the best of the famous Ealing Comedies, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) may just be the best loved of them all. It's a sly yet largely understated (apart from a few exceptional slapstick sequences) caper comedy about a bank transfer agent (Alec Guinness) who hits upon the idea of…
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Jane Hitchcock, Brian Keith, Stella Stevens, John Ritter

Nickelodeon

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: The idea behind Peter Bogdanovich's Nickelodeon (1976) was clearly to make a comeback after the box office disaster of At Long Last Love (1975). The idea was to re-team Ryan and Tatum O'Neal in a black-and-white period movie that would recapture the success of Paper Moon (1973), and while the studio was OK…
Starring: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, Dartanian Sloane, Lea Coco, Tate Ellington

Sinister 2

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Sequel to the 2012 film about an ancient demon turning susceptible children into mass murderers.  The Lowdown: In most respects, it's an improvement over its predecessor, but it's still more of the same with better characters. Watchable, but hardly essential.
Starring: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig, Abby Wait, Miranda Bailey, Christopher Meloni

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: A teenage girl in 1976 San Francisco becomes sexually — and romantically — involved with her mother's 34-year-old boyfriend. The Lowdown: Boldly honest and frank coming-of-age film that is at once daring in its subject matter, yet very much part of its genre. Good, but not quite great, and definitely likely to offend…
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra

From Here to Eternity

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: I do not question the classic — even iconic — status of Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953). It's a solidly made picture, and the image of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr kissing in the surf is one of cinema's most enduring (and most parodied). The performances are excellent across the board,…
Starring: Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack, Charles Tyner, Ellen Geer

Harold and Maude

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Four years ago, the Asheville Film Society ran Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude (1971) as part of ActionFest. Back then, Paramount advised running it from the DVD (which was nothing to brag about) because the available prints were in such bad shape. Much has changed in four years. Now the film is available…
Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris, Elizabeth Debicki

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Prequel that sets up the basics of the 1960s TV series. The Lowdown: It's a little calmer than most Guy Ritchie movies, but it's just right for the material. Terrific to look at, brisk, stylish, funny (but just serious enough) and beautifully cast.
Starring: Eddie Cantor. Lyda Roberti, Robert Young, Ruth Hall, John Miljan, Noah Beery, Robert Emmett O'Connor, The Goldwyn Girls

The Kid from Spain

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: The Asheville Film Society had a large — and enthusiastic — turn-out for Eddie Cantor's first talkie, Whoopee! (1930), a couple of years ago, so Cantor is being brought back in Leo McCarey's The Kid from Spain (1932). While it lacks the antique charm of Whoopee! — along with that film's early Technicolor and time-capsule value of preserving…