The confidence and command of the medium with this very first feature film from the Coen Bros is kind of astounding. The loosely documented story behind the making of this film has it that Coen Bros made a short demo, or trailer for the film as a pitch to some family friends to invest in their feature version. With their meticulously detailed story board, the maximized their million and a half budget instantly launching their successful career.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
The Last Stand
Undone by the casting of slow and wobbly Arnold Schwarzenegger, this is simply a very sad Hollywood debut for renowned and wholly inspiring Korean director Kim Je-Woon, of ‘I Saw the Devil’ fame. We only have to look to Chan-wook Park's brilliant Stoker as a superior example of a successful Asia-to-American transplant.
Labels:
'Alan Bacchus Reviews
,
**
,
2013 Films
,
Action
,
Kim Je-Woon
Monday, 27 May 2013
Mud
Under the guise of a coming-of-age film, Jeff Nichols’ third feature is a film about kids for adults and continues his string of complex character dramas, reflecting themes of family, revenge and violence in the landscape of the American Midwest.
Labels:
'Alan Bacchus Reviews
,
*** 1/2
,
2013 Films
,
Jeff Nichols
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Rocky

Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Soul Power

Monday, 20 May 2013
Something Borrowed
Laziness and complacency in screenwriting were never more apparent than in the latest Ginnifer Goodwin romcom. A potent internal conundrum of conflict for Goodwin’s character is wasted with dumbed down characterizations, diffusing the film of all substance.
Friday, 17 May 2013
Date Night

Thursday, 16 May 2013
El Cid

Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Blow Out

By 1981, Brian De Palma was well into his ’Hitchcock period’, a string of films in the late 70s going back to 1973’s Sisters, but really starting with 1976’s Obsession, followed by Carrie that same year and then The Fury (1978) and Dressed to Kill (1980), which mashed together Alfred Hitchcock‘s most famous suspense set pieces with a tone of sleazy exploitation and dreamy cinematic bravura. The success of Carrie notwithstanding, Blow Out was arguably De Palma's most accomplished of these films.
Friday, 10 May 2013
Naked Lunch
With his reputation before him, David Cronenberg’s desire to create an impressionistic statement of William S. Burrough’s novel as a marriage of his improvizational beat writing with the Baron of Blood’s trademarke body horror aesthetic remains one of the most memorable notches on Cronenberg’s impressive filmography.
Labels:
'Alan Bacchus Reviews
,
*** 1/2
,
1990's
,
Criterion Collection
,
David Cronenberg
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Clash of the Titans

Monday, 6 May 2013
Not Fade Away
David Chase’s overly nostalgic and dull trip down memory lane has us yearning for the acid flashback version of Oliver Stone. Not Fade Away is so dominated by its pop music touchstone it crushes any attention to character and story.
Labels:
'Alan Bacchus Reviews
,
**
,
2012 Films
,
Music
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Silver Linings Playbook
This is a unique speciman, a rare ‘comedy’ which garnered significant Oscar consideration, and yet, doesn’t quite feel like any comedy we’ve ever seen before. Such is genius of David O Russell to create a comedy which doesn’t rely on gags but a palpable feeling of energy from the subject matter as heavy as psychological disorders such as bi-polarism.
Labels:
'Alan Bacchus Reviews
,
*** 1/2
,
2012 Films
,
Comedy
,
David O Russell
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