Here’s a perplexing equation: nearly every individual element of The Theory of Everything that might be singled out for analysis is admirable, at least to a degree, and yet the long string of addition doesn’t lead to particularly satisfying film. … Continue reading But nine nine nine for a lost god, and ten ten ten ten for….
The Memorial Day holiday made for a truncated week at Spectrum Culture, but a convergence of minor issues meant that I had the rare instance of two different new movie reviews go up. First, I wrote on Hannah Arendt, about a writer and intellectual who covered the Adolf Eichmann trial for The New Yorker. Keeping with the heavy subject matter, I reviewed Shadow Dancer, centered on the The Troubles in Ireland, its own sort of period piece, taking place in the mid-nineties. Probably the most notable aspect of this film is the director, James Marsh. He won the Best Documentary … Continue reading Spectrum Check
While all movies strive for authenticity, there’s an added expectation of voracious adherence to the truth when it comes to documentaries, even as advocacy pieces become more and more prevalent. And yet there’s also a growing commitment to transforming non-fiction … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Eight
Nim was the name given to a chimpanzee who was born in an Oklahoma research facility in late 1973. At the behest of a Columbia University professor named Herb Terrace, Nim was removed from his mother’s care at the earliest … Continue reading Standing in the concrete cave, swaying sad and insane
Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008). In 1974, tightrope walker Phillippe Petit recruited some accomplices and strung a cable between the two towers of the World Trade Center. He then walked out on it, performing a feat of jaw-dropping daring some 110 stories above the crowded pavement. Marsh’s riveting documentary combines old footage, new interviews with key participants and spare reenactments to fully convey the colossal tension of the act and the freewheeling fearlessness that drove Petit to do it. Petit, naturally, is the film’s greatest asset, spinning stories about his bygone triumphs with an enthralling enthusiasm. If he doesn’t … Continue reading I wanna see movies of my dreams
Coffee for Two 