Joel and Ethan Coen have built a reputation as two of the most visionary and idiosyncratic filmmakers working today. Dabbling in Film Noir to screwball comedy, from off-beat indies to big-budget studio pieces, their films are adored by critics and audiences alike.
Joel and Ethan Coen, supported by an extraordinarily complex performance from Oscar Isaac in the title role, craft a moving, thoughtful, and, in a peculiar way, stimulating film.
It’s the end of January and, as such, all the movie chatter is centered around what will win Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards. Every year presents a new lineup of polarizing choices, but 2016 really took the cake with a severe lack of diversity. The Revenant and its 12 nominations were acknowledged, but …
Suffragette Directed by Sarah Gavron Written by Abi Morgan United Kingdom, 2015 Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) directs the story of the British suffragette movement from the ground up. Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) is a poor, working-class woman who has labored all her life for men at work and home. She toils for the survival of …
One of the defining features of these character-driven studies is that character development isn’t always a given. These are vibrant and multifaceted characters, but they aren’t necessary going to grow or evolve as human beings.
In Secret Written and directed by Charlie Stratton USA, 2013 What occurs in the new film In Secret feels less like a natural progression of logical events, instead of something more pre-ordained and unnecessarily fatalistic. The characters existing inside of this turgid tragedy do not act freely, but as if guided by an invisible puppet …
It’s that time of the year again when the British Academy of Film and Television Arts celebrates the best of the cinematic world. With the awards taking place just shy of a month before the Academy Awards, it is time to start making those all-important predictions. Part 1 will cover: – Best British Film – …
Every year, when awards nominations are announced, the word “snub” tends to be thrown around a lot. However, I think this happens because people want every great movie to be rewarded for their work without thinking of who should be cut. Thus I get treated to Huffington Post headlines like “OPRAH MOVIE SNUBBED” and “OPRAH …
As with any year, some people have begun arguing that 2013 was a bad year for film, because of the expected glut of effects-heavy blockbusters that litter the multiplexes each summer, or because there was a lack of auteur-driven storytelling for the majority of the year. Though it is indeed frustrating that studios hold their …
Inside Llewyn Davis Written and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen USA, 2013 It takes only a few minutes of Inside Llewyn Davis for its title character to comfortably enter the pantheon of iconic characters created by Joel and Ethan Coen. There’s no point, granted, in comparing him directly to Barton Fink or Marge …
‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ is an emotional hand grenade of a film, where its uncommon power will come hours or even days after seeing it.
Poor Llewyn Davis is not at a good point in his life. In February of 1961, he is a struggling, bearded bohemian shivering through a frosty Greenwich Village, a folk musician seeking the next gig just to keep the wolf from the door. With few possessions other than the fraying clothes on his back and his trusty guitar, he relies on the charity of others to keep a temporary roof over his head, oscillating from staying with two wedded musical companions in the tight-knit folk scene, Jean (Carey Mulligan, deliciously spiteful) and Jim Berkey (Justin Timberlake, polished) and the middle-class Gorfiens , the wealthy, perky parents of Llewyn’s musical partner, revealed to have committed suicide a few months earlier. Davis is a man scorned, sneering at others and certain of his superior musical skills. He’s not the most likable sort, as his futile attempts to escape the confines of his self-imposed cage make for a colourfully arranged period crooner.
The Coen Brothers return with Inside Llewyn Davis, a caustic yet affectionate glimpse into a struggling artist’s life during the folk music scene of the early ‘60s. Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac of Drive) is a temperamental musician in Greenwich Village whose poor decision-making and an inability to connect to others outside of selfish reasons have landed him with little more than the clothes on his back.
Like Father, Like Son There’s a sweetness and emotional weight to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s tales about children and family dynamics that instantly recalls another great Japanese auteur, Yasujiro Ozu. Kore-eda’s previous film, 2011’s I Wish, follows a pair of brothers who plot a long-traveled reunion following their parents’ separation. Over the course of two breezy hours, …
Every Labor Day weekend, cinephiles journey out to a small town nestled in a remote corner of southwest Colorado’s San Juan mountain range for the Telluride Film Festival. Production staff are hard at work building state-of-the-art theaters for more than a month before the event and readying for a sudden influx of dedicated filmgoers. Veteran …
[quote by=”Synopsis”] Joel and Ethan’s next movie will be working on a script based on the life of musician Dave van Ronk, who played a part in the Greenwich Village coffeehouse scene that played a large part in the New York folk scene of the ’60s. Van Ronk, who passed away in 2002 at 66, …
Chris Clemente, Justine Smith and Ricky D each choose their ten most anticipated films of 2012. The list begins with Chris’s picks. Click “Next Ten” at the bottom of the page to continue on. Please note: These lists are in no particular order. 2012 is shaping out to be a banner year for Hollywood blockbusters. …