This week’s biggest upcoming project was one so weird that we needed a few days to process it. It has been called Godzilla meets Being John Malkovich and Adaptation (possibly even Lost in Translation for good measure), and if it seems like those two titles don’t add up in anyway whatsoever, you’re not far off. …
Disney has become well aware that even releasing just the tiniest hint of news about Star Wars is enough to send the blogs into a feeding frenzy. One of those bad habits is studios staking a claim on a calendar date far out in the future. And they’ve now revealed that the release date for …
Rosewater Written and Directed by Jon Stewart USA, 2014 Jon Stewart’s feature debut, Rosewater, is an uneven affair that excels when it stays focused on the restorative power of humor and hope. Not surprisingly, Stewart struggles with the dramatic elements, but a nuanced performance from Gael García Bernal pulls us through the rough spots. Ultimately, …
Rosewater, the directorial debut of The Daily Show host and stand-up comedian Jon Stewart, is a modest retelling of one man’s prolonged imprisonment for honestly reporting about Iran. It’s an engaging exercise about political transparency made possible by the modern media that’s obviously close to Stewart’s heart. This is serious content interlaced with sporadic interludes of comedy that in Stewart’s hands sails smoothly along without seeming inappropriate or misplaced.
No Written by Pablo Larrain Directed by Pablo Larrain Chile, 2012 The name of Augusto Pinochet stirs up passions amongst Chileans till this day even though the general and former president’s dictatorial reign ended over 20 years ago. From 1973 to 1988 ten of thousands of dissidents and suspected opponents to the sate were executed. …
NO Directed by Pablo Larraín Written by Pedro Peirano 2012, Chile Earlier this year, a pro-Pinochet documentary triggered off clashes at a screening in Santiago, Chile, and prompted calls for the film to be banned. But the Piñera administration declared its hands tied, and rightfully so. Even though the Pinochet regime came to an end …
Even the Rain Written by Paul Laverty Directed by Icíar Bollaín Spain/Mexico/France, 2010 Written by regular Ken Loach collaborator Paul Laverty and directed by a former Loach film star, it is perhaps unsurprising that Even the Rain is full of social-realist characteristics associated with the British filmmaker. Its focus concerns the intertwining of a fictional …