Author:   Ken Hanke

Showing 925-945 of 5225 results
Starring: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Kirstin Rudrüd, Harve Presnell

Fargo

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: This is one of those few Coen Brothers films that I just don't quite get the fuss over. I have no problem with the pitch-black comedy, and I don't especially mind the film's downright cruelty. But the lack of even one character — other than Frances McDormand's Marge (who doesn't enter the film…
Starring: Francisco Rabal, José Coronado, Dafne Fernández, Eulàlia Ramon, Maribel Verdú

Goya in Bordeaux

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: While it's certainly visually striking and avoids being a standard biopic, Carlos Saura's Goya in Bordeaux comes with its own set of problems. First of all, Saura assumes that the viewer knows a lot more about Spanish painter Francisco Goya than is probable. Second, the film — with its transparent scrim walls —…
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace

Guardians of the Galaxy

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: A mismatched — and pretty ragged — quartet of unlikely heroes may be the only chance to save the universe. The Lowdown: A thoroughly engaging, funny, exciting, even charming sci-fi actioner with an appealing cast that makes for excellent summer movie fare.
Starring: Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, Steven Prince, Marco Perella

Boyhood

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: A film — shot over a period of 12 years — that chronicles the life of one boy from childhood to the beginning of adulthood. The Lowdown: Unlike anything you've seen, Richard Linklater's Boyhood is a must-see work of quiet, subtle power that nearly justifies the great reputation that precedes its arrival.
Starring: Channing Pollock, Francine Bergé, Edith Scob, Théo Sarapo, Sylva Koscina

Judex

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Georges Franju's Judex (1963) is one fascinating oddity — both a remake of and homage to Louis Feuillade's 1916 serial about a caped vigilante crime fighter who calls himself Judex (meaning justice). It's essentially a simple revenge tale that's made complex by almost nonstop double-crosses and reversals (hey, it's from a serial). While…
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Robert Frazer / Bela Lugosi, Wallace Ford, Louise Currie

White Zombie / The Ape Man

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: It's a double dose of Bela Lugosi at the Thursday Horror Picture Show this week, showcasing both the sublime and the sublimely ridiculous. White Zombie (1932) — the first zombie movie ever — is one of Lugosi's best films. Despite some surprisingly graphic moments, the film is more like a fairy tale with…
Starring: Charles Farrell, Rose Hobart, Estelle Taylor, H.B. Warner, Lee Tracy, Walter Abel

Liliom

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Though its romanticizing of spousal abuse seems both weird and wrong today, Ferenc Molnár's play, Liliom, was a big hit in Hungary and later on Broadway. That it would be filmed by Frank Borzage — a filmmaker who specialized in stories of transcendence — during that brief period when Fox Film was trying…
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Taylor Kitsch, Liane Balaban, Gordon Pinsent

The Grand Seduction

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: In order to get an oil company contract, a small town has to bamboozle a young doctor into staying there. The Lowdown: It's predictable and a little pokey. It's contrived and improbable. But The Grand Seduction has its own slender charms and terrific chemistry between its leads, making it a minor pleasure.
Starring: Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, Ben Chaplin, Alden Ehrenreich

Twixt

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Not really released in the U.S. (or much of anywhere, it seems), Francis Ford Coppola's wayward horror picture Twixt is by no means a success. In fact, it's a mess. That its sub-Stephen King story is being told, experienced or both (it's a mess, I tell you) by a writer (Val Kilmer) who…
Starring: Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff, Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, Katherine DeMille

Unconquered

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: It's big. It's colorful. It's longer than it needs to be. It's exciting. It's filled with movie stars who look like movie stars. It's preposterous in the way that only a Cecil B. DeMille movie can be. Essentially, Unconquered is a Western — only instead of cowboys and Indians, we have pre-Revolutionary War…
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-Sik Choi, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Analeigh Tipton

Lucy

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: A clueless young woman accidentally gets an overdose of a new drug that causes her brain capacity to expand, giving her something like superpowers. The Lowdown: Yes, it's so dumb that it ought to be kind of likable, but incoherence, lousy special effects, stretches of tedium and a ponderous tone make it just…
Starring: Josef Bierbichler, Stefan Guttler, Clemens Scheitz, Sonja Skiba

Heart of Glass

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: If Werner Herzog is the most idiosyncratic of all filmmakers — and the case can be made — there's a good chance that Heart of Glass (1976) is his most idiosyncratic work. Theoretically, it's the story of a late 18th century village that descends into madness when the foreman of a glassworks dies, taking the…
Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Aksel Hennie, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal

Hercules

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story: Sword-for-hire Hercules agrees to help rid Thrace of a man trying to dethrone the king. The Lowdown: No, it's not really all that good, but this latest take — revisionist in nature — on Hercules is painless fun. Well-crafted action and a strong supporting cast make a difference.
Starring: Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Ian Holm, Patricia Neal

All Quiet on the Western Front

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: In 1930, Lewis Milestone made a film version of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. It was a breakthrough in sound filmmaking and one of the most powerful anti-war films ever made. It was a film that actually added something legendary to its literary source — the business of reaching for…
Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr

Rear Window

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Rear Window (1954), often cited as Alfred Hitchcock's best and most sophisticated film, is back on the big screen for one night only — Wednesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at The Carolina as this month's Budget Big Screen movie. It's a chance to see the film in all the brilliance of its color…
Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, Zoe Soul, Michael K. Williams

The Purge: Anarchy

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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The Story:  Sequel to last year's film about a reconfigured America where one night each year encourages purging the populace of the unemployed and homeless — and anyone else you just don't like. The Lowdown: While no less absurd than its dopey predecessor, this sequel is better made, more exciting and considerably more thought-provoking. It's…
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Una O'Connor, Dwight Frye, Elsa Lanchester

Bride of Frankenstein

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Tuesday would have been director James Whale's 125th birthday. It follows as sure as the sun will set and the moon will rise that the Thursday Horror Picture will mark the event with one of Whale's four classic horror films — and they don't come any more classic than his final work in…
Starring: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason, Eric Blore, Robert Armstrong, Lila Lee, Grant Mitchell

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on
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In Brief: Asheville Film Society favorite William Powell returns in The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936), a very enjoyable comedy-mystery from RKO that cashes in on Powell's own Thin Man series over at MGM. (Actually, it beat After the Thin Man into theaters.) Rather than teaming him with Myrna Loy, this film sets Powell up with Jean…