We have two art titles and three mainstream ones this week — and it’s an interesting array. Neither of the art titles are exactly what you think of as art titles, and one of the mainstream titles seems a very odd choice for the mainstream. I can’t say there’s anything as magnificently heady as Cloud Atlas this round, but the week is not without its points.
Author: Ken Hanke
Showing 1660-1680 of 5225 results
Liberal Arts
The Story: A bookish 30-something college admissions officer — freshly dumped by his girlfriend — returns to his old college and finds a possible new love and more. The Lowdown: A thoroughly enjoyable film about the allure and pitfalls of the academic world and experience — especially when viewed through the filter of nostalgia.
You’ll Find Out
In Brief: Big band leader Kay Kyser and his musicians find themselves playing for a birthday party at an isolated old dark house — where the guests include none other than Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. It's an engaging mix of music, murder and fairly broad comedy, enlivened no end by the three…
Hello I Must Be Going
The Story: A newly divorced 30-something returns to live with her parents and falls into a complicated relationship with a younger man. The Lowdown: Funny, perceptive little movie that gives the usually overlooked Melanie Lynskey a much deserved break. The rest of the cast scores, too.
Blood for Dracula
In Brief: It's the X-rated classic where Dracula becomes spectacularly unwell whenever he drinks the blood of anyone who's not a virgin (prompting the magnificent outburst, "The blood of these whores is killing me!") — and if that appeals to you (and it should), this movie is right up your alley. It's all about Dracula…
Curse of the Doll People
In Brief: When a voodoo idol is stolen from its Haitian home, a voodoo priest sends animated dolls to revenge himself on those responsible. Amusing and yet creepy South of the Border horror from the richest period for such movies. Murderous dolls, a voodoo priest, gangsters and a zombie delivery boy all in one package.
Night Gallery
In Brief: Anthology film comprised of three stories — one of which was directed by a young Steven Spielberg — that was the pilot for the subsequent TV series. The quality varies from story to story and the production values are pure TV level. Not bad at all, but neither is it anything all that…
Paranormal Activity 4
The Story: More low-rent spooky doings in suburbia. The Lowdown: People who find these bottom-of-the-barrel movies (videos, actually) somehow scary will presumably do so once again. The rest of us are more likely to yawn or go see something else.
Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler October 24-30: Hello I Must Be Cloud Atlas
So last week we got a scant two movies—both of which lived down to their promises of mediocrity—and one art movie—that drew about as well as a quarantine sign. This week we’re being bombarded with choices—six of them to be exact. Two of these I know to be good. Two of them I think look interesting. The two others…well…
Blessed Event
In Brief: Blisteringly funny, cheerfully amoral pre-code comedy built on the machine-gun-fire fast-talking Lee Tracy as an unscrupulous gossip columnist (loosely based on Walter Winchell) who knows — and tells — where all the bodies are buried. Fast-moving with crackling dialogue and morals that would be impossible a scant two years later.
Seven Psychopaths
The Story: A pair dognappers — and by extension a troubled screenwriter — end up being targeted by a psychotic gangster when they steal his dog. The Lowdown: Brilliant, bloody, funny, touching and about so much more than any plot description even hints. Yes, it is extremely violent, but it's also possibly the best film…
Atlas Shrugged: Part II
The Story: The second of a purportedly three-part adaptation of Ayn Rand's massive libertarian sci-fi soap opera. The Lowdown: Plodding, seemingly interminable, cheaply made and not likely to persuade anyone except the niche audience for whom it was made.
Beauty Is Embarrassing
The Story: Documentary on artist/designer Wayne White. The Lowdown: A joyous look at a gleeful artist who takes tremendous pleasure in creating his art.
Without a Clue
In Brief: What you get with Without a Clue is a pretty good Sherlock Holmes yarn wrapped in a not so good premise — namely that Dr. Watson is the brains behind and inventor of Holmes, who in reality is a dunderheaded actor. That's mildly amusing and clever enough as far as it goes, but…
Interview with the Vampire
In Brief: Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire may not be perfect, but it's still the closest anyone has come to creating a truly epic vampire movie — and in purely A-picture terms. It's big, it spans centuries and contents. It's a rich and richly detailed film that, if anything, is actually more impressive today…
Sinister
The Story: A down-on-his-luck true-crime novelist moves his family into a home where a multiple murder occurred in order to research a book on the crime. Spooky things happen. The Lowdown: Yes, there are some shuddery moments and, yes, you've seen worse horror pictures. But you've also seen better ones than this peculiarly overrated scarefest.
The Kennel Murder Case
The Story: Private — actually dilettante — detective Philo Vance sets out to prove that a suicide was actually a murder and to trap the killer. The Lowdown: The ultimate in classic detective movies from the age of the puzzle plot mystery, The Kennel Murder Case is also wildly inventive entertainment with the great William…
Jules et Jim
In Brief: François Truffaut's New Age classic Jules et Jim is one of those films that just never ages. It's as fresh and alive today as it was when it first appeared in 1962. At bottom, it's a love triangle, but in the hands of this filmmaker and this cast it becomes much more than…
Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler October 17-23: Paranormal Alex Cross Is Embarassing
If last week was too full—and it was—this week looks positively threadbare. We have two mainstream releases of debatable interest and one art film. (And I mean that last quite literally.) All in all, it looks like a good week to catch up on the better movies you didn’t get to last week.
QFest 2012
QFest has always struck me as one of the more agreeable film festivals. It’s not huge and doesn’t try to be. It’s a little on the laid-back side and it has an agreeably unassuming attitude. What it has is a disarmingly diverse selection of films—some serious, some playful, all interesting. A lot of these are films you’re not likely to see elsewhere, so don’t miss this opportunity.
Dishonored
In Brief: Marlene Dietrich (at her most glamorous) plays a war-widow-turned-prostitute who becomes a spy for the fatherland in this World War I romantic thriller from Josef von Sternberg that mixes campy melodrama with a pacifist message (that the film itself mocks). It's mostly an excuse for Dietrich — accompanied by her ridiculously omnipresent black…