Big Top Pee-wee Directed by Randal Kleiser Written by Paul Reubens and George McGrath USA, 1988 Following the success of the Tim Burton-helmed Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and the beloved children’s show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Big Top Pee-wee is an uneven entry in the ongoing comedic career of Paul Reubens. Pee-wee Herman, the man-child with a heart of …
Quite the dichotomous release, this one. Millennium, odd shift in tone notwithstanding, is surprisingly easy to recommend. R.O.T.O.R …less so. There are indeed people out there that eat this stuff up, the film fans that go crazy over truly god-awful movies. How else does one explain the fact that The Room keeps getting played every now and then in repertoire cinemas? More power to them, and they’ll probably be delighted to check out R.O.T.O.R on blu-ray. For everybody else, Millennium is the reason to pick up this release.
In keeping with the acting style of the subject of its focus, Sophie Huber’s Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction stays away from extremes in its portrait of one of America’s greatest actors. There is affection, but it is understated and not glowing, while any melancholy elements are not over-stressed.
In keeping with the acting style of the object of its focus, Sophie Huber’s Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction stays away from extremes in its portrait of one of America’s greatest actors. There is affection, but it is understated and not glowing, while any melancholy elements are not over-stressed. The facts and opinions expressed, through Stanton and various collaborators, are simply allowed to be – free of added manipulation – in what amounts as a rather quiet documentary, excluding film clips with their own soundtracks and instances in which we get to see Stanton express his passion for performing music. Like the documentary’s most discussed film, Paris, Texas (1984), Partly Fiction is serene but also apt at emotional devastation, though as in Wim Wenders’ masterpiece, sorrow and optimism are intertwined.
Deadfall Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky United States, 2012 Fargo has so embedded itself in the American film-going consciousness as a cold thriller, that anything with a suspense plot and snow now seems to warrant immediate comparisons, whether deserved or not. While many things can be leveled at Stefan Ruzowitzky’s thriller, including suspense and snow, Fargo-like …