Author: Ken Hanke

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The Raid: Redemption

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 10, 2012April 10, 2012

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The Story: A police squad carry out a raid on a crime lord who is holed up in a supposedly impregnable apartment building. The Lowdown: Brilliantly stripped-down to its very essence, this action film is not going to be to every taste due to its brutality, but will serve adherents of the genre well.

The Fury

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 10, 2012April 10, 2012

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In Brief: Brian DePalma's originally misunderstood -- and mismarketed -- conspiracy thriller with paranormal aspects, now plays much better than it originally did when no one quite knew what to make of its mash-up of genres. Slickly professional and excitingly executed, with moments of creative and inventive filmmaking.

Titanic

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 10, 2012April 10, 2012

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In Brief: Yeah, it's from 1953, it's in black and white with monophonic sound, and it's certainly not widescreen, but it's a perfectly respectable movie about the titular doomed ship. Romanticized and mythologized as it is -- and with technical errors that wouldn't have been known at the time -- it gets the job done.…

ActionFest Update Updated—New Titles, Guests and Events

Posted on April 7, 2012April 6, 2014 by Ken Hanke

We’ve had more titles and what-not announced for what is shaping up to the biggest and best ActionFest to date. This latest press release should just about cover it (when combined with the previous announcements), but that doesn’t preclude others things yet to come. Not mentioned here, for example, is the Asheville Film Society/Mountain Xpress showing of Brian DePalma’s The Fury starring Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes and Amy Irving with an introduction and Q&A from the film’s stunt coordinator Mickey Gilbert. (That happens at 7:30 p.m. on Fri., April 13 at The Carolina.) And I’ll be back with a sneak preview on the titles I’ve managed to get an early look at. So keep watching for more information. But for now…

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler April 4-10: We Need to Talk About Jiro

Posted on April 3, 2012April 6, 2014 by Ken Hanke

It’s not exactly what you might call a happening week — unless, of course, you have a burning desire to see Titanic with a coating of 3D. Otherwise, it’s down to two art titles and one mainstream milking of an elderly cash cow. It could be worse. No, it has been worse.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

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The Story: A fragmented look at the making of a mass murderer through his relationship with his mother. The Lowdown: Acclaimed in some quarters as a powerful drama, it seems more like an unpleasant schlocky horror movie without the nerve to be one.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

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The Story: A look at the life and work of an 85-year-old master of sushi. The Lowdown: It may not sound like the stuff 90-minute films are made of, but Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a beautifully observed, surprisingly engaging and entertaining look at a man who has spent his life in pursuit of perfection…

Amarcord

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

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In Brief: Federico Fellini's Oscar-winning autobiographical, phantasmagorical reminiscence of what life was like -- or how it seems from a perspective nearly 40 years later -- in the small town of Rimini, where the director was born. Rich, comic, gorgeous to behold and throroughly entertaining. A master filmmaker at his best.

Dark Eyes of London (The Human Monster)

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

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In Brief: A curious Bela Lugosi film to come out of Great Britain in 1939, Dark Eyes of London (The Human Monster) remains perhaps the single most disturbing film in the actor's entire filmography. There is not a drop of sympathy to be found for his murderous Dr. Orloff, the unhinged architect of a murderous…

Barton Fink

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

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In Brief: John Turturro plays a thinly veiled version of playwright Clifford Odets in this 1991, Cannes-winning Coen Brothers film. The film is a very disturbing, but sometimes funny, look at an artist (maybe a little bit of a fake) descending into madness and self-absorption in old Hollywood.

Mirror Mirror

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

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The Story: Comedic reworking of the Snow White story. The Lowdown: Beautiful-looking comedy variant on the fairy tale, but with a degree of fealty to the source, along with a nice mix of clever and broad humor. The leading lady's a little pallid, but Julia Roberts' Wicked Queen is not.

Catch Me If You Can

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 27, 2012March 27, 2012

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In Brief: Steven Spielberg's return to the type of film for which he is most prized by the public -- following two less popular, more adventurous films -- is an agreeable, if somewhat overlong and not particularly memorable "true" story about a high schooler who managed to pass himself off as an airline pilot, a…

Rampart

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 27, 2012March 27, 2012

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The Story: Character study of the descent of a corrupt police officer into the abyss of his own excesses. The Lowdown: A brilliantly made but extremely uncomfortable film centered on one police officer, which is anchored to a terrifically compelling performance by Woody Harrelson. It loses steam toward the end, but is overall powerful.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 27, 2012March 27, 2012

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In Brief: Bruce Robinson's blistering -- and hysterically funny -- attack on both advertising and consumer culpability, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, is a fantasticated satire about an advertising whiz who suffers a crise de conscience that is followed by a bizarre physical change in the form of a talking boil that ultimately becomes…

The Cat and the Canary

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 27, 2012March 27, 2012

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In Brief: The classic tale of relatives gathering at an old mansion for a late-night reading of the will -- one of those documents with an alternate heir that is little short of an invitation to drive the real heir (or heiress in this case) insane in order to usurp the inheritance. Still shuddery, with…

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 27, 2012March 27, 2012

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The Story: A Scottish fishery expert is pushed into working on the wild scheme of a wealthy sheikh to transport salmon to Yemen. The Lowdown: Full of empty calories and lacking the bite its screwy premise suggests, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen gets by pretty nicely on pure charm and a splendid cast.

The Hunger Games

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 27, 2012March 27, 2012

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The Story: In an oppressive future society, lottery-selected 12-to-18 year olds are pitted against each other in a fight to the death known as the Hunger Games. The Lowdown: Reasonably exciting and entertaining film that will likely mean more to fans of the books than to the casual moviegoer.

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler March 28-April 3: Rampart Salmon Fishing in the Mirror

Posted on March 27, 2012April 6, 2014 by Ken Hanke

There may be nothing as keenly anticipated this week as The Hunger Games, but there’s hardly a shortage of titles. There are five new ones, in fact — and here’s a week where the art titles edge out the mainstream ones, at least in number. Just exactly how that will play out at the box office is, of course, another matter.

ActionFest Update—More Titles! More Cool Stuff!

Posted on March 26, 2012April 6, 2014 by Ken Hanke

Once again, as promised, I’m passing on the information from ActionFest as soon as I get it—or get it cleared for publication. They’ve come up with some more movies to ponder, not to mention the information that opening and closing night titles will branching out to play downtown venues, the Diana Wortham and Fine Arts Theatre respectively. Now, read on…

Thin Ice

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 20, 2012March 20, 2012

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The Story: A dishonest insurance salesman sees a chance to correct some losses with a spot of larceny -- only to find himself embroiled ever deeper in trouble as a result. The Lowdown: A convoluted, entertaining dark comedy involving varying levels of duplicity. Ultimately, it's on the shallow side and mostly scores points for clever…

October Baby

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on March 20, 2012March 20, 2012

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The Story: An adopted girl goes searching for her birth mother. The Lowdown: Better looking (at least some of the time) than most faith-based movies and with a standout small turn from Jasmine Guy, but strictly of interest to a very specific demographic.

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