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Thursday, February 16, 2012
Film / Film News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 10:00 AM
- Fox
- This Means War
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds
The Secret World of Arrietty - Animated
This Means War - Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine
Film / Arts Le Havre screens at The Light Factory
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 9:50 AM
Finnish writer-director Aki Kaurismaki may not exactly be a household name in the U.S. — his most famous film on this side of the Atlantic is still 1989's Leningrad Cowboys Go America — but they sure do love him at Cannes. Last year, Kaurismaki picked up his fourth career award from the judges at the prestigious film festival, this time for the modest charmer Le Havre. Set in the titular port city in France, the film focuses on the relationship between an African refugee, a young boy named Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), and a kindly shoe-shiner, an elderly man named Marcel (Andre Wilms). As the authorities search for Idrissa with the intent of deporting him, Marcel rallies his friends and neighbors to help him protect the boy from an unfeeling bureaucracy. - Matt Brunson $7. Fri., Feb. 17-Sat., Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. The Light Factory, 345 N. College St. 704-333-9755. www.lightfactory.org.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Newspaper series deals an Ace in the Hole
Posted By Matt Brunson on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 10:00 AM
- Paramount
- Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole
By Matt Brunson
ACE IN THE HOLE (1951)
***1/2
DIRECTED BY Billy Wilder
STARS Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling
One year after scandalizing Hollywood with his bilious classic Sunset Boulevard, writer-director Billy Wilder was up to his old tricks with Ace in the Hole, which did to journalism — and to the average American — what his previous picture had done to Tinseltown.
Remarkably topical, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Charles Tatum, a conniving newspaper reporter who ends up at a small New Mexico rag after getting fired from too many big-city publications. Tatum's hoping for that one story which will take him back to the majors, and he stumbles across it when he learns that a local (Richard Benedict) is trapped in a cave. Starting with this small item, Tatum expertly expands it into a nationwide sensation, a "human interest" piece that eventually draws the attention of other media, a sheriff running for reelection, American families who travel from miles away to gawk at the spectacle, and even entertainers of all stripes (admission is charged just to see the cave, and a Ferris wheel is merely one of the many carny activities set up on the site).
Cynical to its core, this powerful film is prescient in the manner in which it mirrors our nation's current fascination with cheap sensationalism and shallow journalistic practices. A box office flop (even when it was re-released under the title The Big Carnival), this earned an Oscar nomination for its script (penned by Wilder, Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman), while Jan Sterling, as the victim's icy wife, snagged the Best Actress prize from the National Board of Review.
(Ace in the Hole will be screened as part of the "Extra! Extra! Celebrating the Newspaper Picture" film series at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at ImaginOn. Admission is free.)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Film Flashback: Ghost Rider
Posted By Matt Brunson on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 3:38 PM
By Matt Brunson
This Friday will see the release of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, with Nicolas Cage reprising his role from 2007's Ghost Rider. Since this sequel isn't being screened in advance for critics, we offer CL's original write-up on its predecessor, which was mauled by reviewers but nevertheless earned $115 million from stateside audiences (although its $110 million budget meant it barely broke even here, with the foreign market once again having to come to the rescue). If this review reminds you exactly how much you disliked the original (after all, it's hard to find anybody who champions it), then for God's sake, do us all a favor and stay away rather than convince the studio of the need for a third GR flick starring Cage.
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Is it possible that before making the big-screen version of Ghost Rider (*1/2 out of four), writer-director Mark Steven Johnson had never even read a Ghost Rider comic book? Yes, I know as well as anyone that faithfulness to the source material is a low priority when it comes to Hollywood, whether adapting Stan Lee or Lee Child. But Johnson, whose version of Daredevil wasn't quite as bad as the press made out, here botches what would have seemed to be a fairly manageable assignment.
The comics' original Johnny Blaze wasn't a joke-a-second character like Peter Parker or The Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm. He was more somber and serious, as one would expect from a biker who sold his soul to the devil (to save the life of a loved one) and then found himself living under a curse that transformed him into a flaming-skull creature whenever in the presence of evil. Of course, when you hire Nicolas Cage to star in your movie, it's safe to assume that camp was what was intended all along.
Cage, whose best film in recent years has been the hilarious Wicker Man re-edit on YouTube (check it out here; it has the power to brighten anyone's week), falls back on the eye-popping, head-rolling overacting that has turned him into this decade's Rod Steiger. Amazingly, though, he doesn't deliver the movie's worst performance; instead, he lands in the show position, right under Eva Mendes as the somnambular love interest and the mesmerizingly awful Wes Bentley as one of the least convincing — and therefore least threatening — villains of recent vintage.
On the plus side, the special effects are pretty cool, and it was inspired to cast Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles (Easy Rider, meet Ghost Rider). Otherwise, this is yet another comic book adaptation that goes up in flames before our very eyes.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews: Pariah; Pina; Safe House; Chronicle
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 2:55 PM
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Film / Arts Charlotte premieres Legalize Gay documentary
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 2:15 PM
Don’t miss your chance to watch the brand spankin’ new documentary, Legalize Gay: The Civil Rights Movement of a Generation, this week. Presented by Campus Pride, screenings will be held tonight (Feb. 9, 7 p.m.) at Petra’s Piano Bar and on Saturday (Feb. 11, 2 p.m.) at the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte.
The film — which doesn't debut on TV's Logo channel until May — follows activists as they bravely campaign for gay and lesbian rights across the country (and especially in bigoted hard-to-reach spots, like *cough cough* the South). Charlotte City Council member LaWana Mayfield is slated to lead a Q&A and panel discussion after the premiere. Other panelists include Campus Pride's Shane Windmeyer, Human Rights Campaign's Robert Dogens, Carolina Trans Society's Lacy Beatty, MeckPAC's Scott Bishop and Race to the Ballot's Jen Jones, among others.
Admission is free, but donations are encouraged and go towards local scholarships for Camp Pride.
Watch the trailer for the film below.
Film / Film News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 9:41 AM
- Sony
- The Vow
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine
Pariah - Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans
Pina - Documentary
Safe House - Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds
Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace 3D - Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor
The Vow - Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum
Friday, February 3, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews: The Woman in Black; The Grey
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 2:52 PM
Film / Film News / Film Reviews Backtrack before next Back Alley offering
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 2:00 PM
- IFC Films
- A scene from the first Elite Squad
By Matt Brunson
Anyone interested in catching the Back Alley Film Series' screening of Elite Squad: The Enemy Within would be well-advised to spend the remaining time before then hunting down and watching its predecessor, 2007's Elite Squad. While it's not imperative to see the first film in order to enjoy the second, it is recommended, as it focuses on several characters who return for the follow-up. Beyond that, it's simply an excellent film — even better than its sequel — and it's a shame it didn't receive any sort of a proper release here in the States (surprisingly so, since writer-director José Padilha previously helmed the riveting documentary Bus 174 while co-writer Braulio Mantovani penned the Oscar-nominated script for City of God).
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9 at Crownpoint Cinemas, 9630 Monroe Road. Admission is $8. Go here for more info.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Film / Film News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 10:00 AM
- CBS Films
- The Woman in Black
Big Miracle - Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski
Chronicle - Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell
The Woman in Black - Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer
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Question the Queen City: The haunting of Love’s Pass
The railroad pass has claimed at least 14 lives
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Question the Queen City: What lurks in the woods of Camp Greene? 1
The World War 1 training facility's tragic past lingers even today
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His name was Blake 2
A young activist gone too soon.
