Author: Ken Hanke

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2001: A Space Odyssey

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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In Brief: To say that Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film is almost beyond criticism is misleading, but not entirely untrue. No matter how you feel about 2001: A Space Odyssey, it's just too big to ignore. It presents the viewer with a mystery that can be interpreted and explored, but never actually solved — and in…

Only God Forgives

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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The Story: Violent revenge thriller set in a nightmarish version of Bangkok. The Lowdown: Extremely violent, almost fetishistic thriller that moves at a hypnotically slow pace. It will offend some, bore others, fascinate the rest — and probably generate hate mail for me for even cautiously recommending it.

Call Me Madam

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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In Brief: Bright and breezy film version of the Irving Berlin stage hit starring Ethel Merman. While it's not what you'd call inspired filmmaking, it's filled with terrific songs, funny lines and clever situations. It's also the only film to give us any real sense of what made Merman such a sensation on the stage.…

Deathtrap

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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In Brief: Deathtrap (1982) is kind of the poor cousin to Sleuth — another gimmick-driven stage thriller brought to the big screen, also starring Michael Caine (only here in the equivalent of Laurence Olivier's role in the 1972 Sleuth). While Deathtrap is very much the lesser film, it scores as a kind of muggers' delight…

Pacific Rim

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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The Story: It's giant robots vs. giant monsters as (of course) the fate of the world hangs in the balance. The Lowdown: It's big. It's deliberately dumb. And it's a lot of good-natured fun with all the stock giant-monster movie clichés intact. However, it must be noted that the robot vs. monster bouts tend to…

Girl Most Likely

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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The Story: When a failed playwright stages a suicide bid to get her boyfriend back, she ends up in the care of her dubiously balanced mother. The Lowdown: Not a great comedy, but a very pleasant one with engaging performances and a few nice surprises.

Fill the Void

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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The Story: The story of a young Orthodox Hassidic girl and the question of whether she should marry her late sister's husband. The Lowdown: What could have been a fairly ordinary romantic drama is transformed into something freshly appealing by the unusual society in which it's placed.

The Giant Gila Monster

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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In Brief: Look, it's a 1959 movie called The Giant Gila Monster. That means the notoriously sluggish lizard sort of ambles around dicey miniature sets while largely unheard of actors react in horror to something that really isn't there. It's absolutely indefensible, low-rent nonsense, but that's what gives the movie its wayward appeal.

Mamma Roma

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

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In Brief: Largely dismissed — even vilified — upon its Italian release in 1962, this Pier Paolo Pasolini film about the semi-incestuous relationship between a middle-aged prostitute (Anna Magnani) and her son (Ettore Garofolo) didn't even get a proper U.S. release until Martin Scorsese brought it here in 1995. While it's hardly top-tier Pasolini, Mamma…

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler July 17-23: Red God Most Likely Forgives Conjuring Void

Posted on July 16, 2013April 6, 2014 by Ken Hanke

Here we have an uncommonly busy movie week with four mainstream titles and an equal number of art/indie titles. Stranger still, not a single one involves giant monsters or guys in tights, which is perhaps a good thing.

20 Feet from Stardom

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

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The Story: Documentary on the world of backup singers. The Lowdown: Charming, tuneful, occasionally moving and always entertaining about the singers who contributed so much to so many great songs.

Despicable Me 2

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

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The Story: The formerly villainous Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to catch a new super criminal. The Lowdown: It contains all the elements of the agreeable original film, but the structure is a mess and, despite pleasing moments, it's just not very good.

The Lone Ranger

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

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The Story: Revisionist take on the origins of the Lone Ranger. The Lowdown: Big, spectacular, amazingly personal blend of the Western epic and comedy that addresses issues more weighty than one usually finds in summer movies — and this makes it troubling to some.

Kuroneko

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

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In Brief: Kaneto Shindô had startled the international film scene with his Onibaba in 1964, so when his next three efforts created scarcely a ripple, he returned to the horror genre with Kuroneko (1968) — another period-piece ghost story. Once again, the film was surprisingly gory for an "art film," though that seemed less shocking…

The Church

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

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In Brief: Michele Soavi's 1989 film was originally intended to be part of producer/co-writer Dario Argento's loosely connected Demons movies, and while it retains elements of those films — especially trapping the cast in a single location and contagious possessions — it is mostly its own beast. And a very curious beast it is. Like…

Singin’ in the Rain

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

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In Brief: For whatever reason, Singin' in the Rain (1952) has become untouchable as far as criticism — and is even casually referred to as the best musical ever made. The point is certainly debatable, though the title number is beyond reproach and the whole enterprise has undeniable energy (that may or may not be…

Gold Diggers of 1935

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

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In Brief: Busby Berkeley's Gold Diggers of 1935 is the first of the big Warner Bros. musicals to really feel the heat of the new Production Code, meaning its comedy is less risqué, its costumes less revealing and its entertainment value slightly diminished. That said, we do get a very funny Adolphe Menjou as an…

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler July 10-16: 20 Feet from Pacific Rim Grown Ups

Posted on July 9, 2013April 6, 2014 by Ken Hanke

This week we have the good, the potentially good and the almost certainly dismal. At one point yesterday, we had a fourth option. Then we didn’t. Then we did again. Finally we didn’t. If that confuses you, just be glad you didn’t have to deal with the flurry of calls and emails that surrounded the movie that isn’t opening. Anyway, let’s look at what we do have.

The Heat

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 2, 2013July 2, 2013

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The Story: A button-down FBI agent is teamed with an overbearingly vulgar Boston cop. The Lowdown: Stale and predictable. Its supposed novelty lies in the fact that the leads are women. Sandra Bullock is solidly professional as the "straight man," while Melissa McCarthy swears a lot and is angry most of the time.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 2, 2013July 2, 2013

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The Story: Documentary about WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. The Lowdown: Long — too long — and complex look at people and events you may already know about. Here, however, it's distilled into a coherent whole.

Hallelujah, I’m a Bum

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on July 2, 2013July 2, 2013

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In Brief: An array of Rodgers and Hart songs, the great Al Jolson (in probably his best film performance) and the seemingly endless creativity of director Lewis Milestone come together to make Hallelujah, I'm a Bum one of the most intriguing of all Depression-era musicals — not in the least because it actually addresses the…

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