February 16, 2011
Blue Valentine follows a married couple in turmoil, and recalls their relationship’s romantic beginnings as it threatens to unravel in the present.
April 19, 2010
Although its story recalls the hope and determination of the first Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976), Rocky Balboa is a pale copy.
May 19, 2010
As a painstakingly accurate retelling of its legend, Robin Hood had every opportunity to shine. But it falls short of expectations.
March 22, 2010
A reviewer compared City of God to Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) and many parallels could be made between the two. As they both fall into the genre of gangster films, they depict violence in a raw, uninhibited way, in a realist fashion. City of God, with its documentary-style aesthetic—camera shakes, voice-over narration, etc., uses that realism to emphasize its story’s […]
March 29, 2010
WHAT IT IS: Boston: A private investigator is enlisted to find a little girl who’s been abducted in his old neighborhood. HOW IT IS: In his directorial debut, Ben Affleck borrows from many of the great living directors, from Eastwood to Van Sant. Most notable is the latter’s influence in the cinema vérité shots. A Bostonian himself, Affleck’s neighborhood seems […]