One hates to describe a fine film in such simplistic terms, but here goes: take the location (and, to a degree, the characters) of John Carpenter's The Thing, toss them into act one of Frank Marshall's Alive, and then have...
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by Scott Weinberg, January 3, 2012 3:32 PM
There are few people out there who appreciate a good, old-fashioned bummer like I do. Through cinema history, the downer has grown more and more scarce in mainstream cinema, being replaced by films that may not be intentionally depressing, but...
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by J Hurtado, January 3, 2012 2:05 PM
I can, without reservation, say that Brendan Gleeson's performance in writer-director John McDonagh's The Guard one of the sharpest, most complex, and certainly funniest out of the crop of released over the last 12 months. Playing Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a...
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by Charles Webb, January 3, 2012 12:00 PM
The last couple of months have been kind of an accidental effort to reassess some movies and TV shows that I might not have had time for in the past--either I encountered them at the wrong time in my life...
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by Charles Webb, January 3, 2012 10:00 AM
Having shaken the New Year's haze from my head I sat down this morning with the intention of creating a typical 2011 Best Of list. My pattern has been the same for the past several years: My ten favorite...
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by Todd Brown, January 2, 2012 4:33 PM
When I heard that Tran Anh Hung, the Vietnamese-born auteur of Scent of Green Papaya, Cyclo and I Come with the Rain, was going to be adapting Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood back in 2008, I couldn't be happier. I honestly...
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by Dustin Chang, January 2, 2012 9:00 AM
If you ask me about the pinnacle of Japanese drama cinema there is only one name that withstands all criticism: Hiroshi Ishikawa. Sadly his work is terribly under-appreciated (or just plain unknown), even amongst fans of Japanese cinema. What better...
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by Niels Matthijs, January 2, 2012 8:29 AM
I know nothing about the Polish new wave cinema of the '50s and '60s apart from a few names I've picked up over the years. In fact, the closest I've come to this genre is reviewing Jerzy Skolimowski's English language...
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by J Hurtado, January 1, 2012 10:52 PM
Back in July I drew up a list of 10 Asian films from the first half of 2011 that were worthy of mention and recommendation. Now that December is bidding us a fond farewell it seemed only right to do...
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by James Marsh, January 1, 2012 2:53 PM
Going over the list of films released in 2011 that I saw (which does not include the dozens from film festivals that may or may not be released), it was an excellent year for me. Narrowing my list down to...
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by Shelagh M. Rowan-Legg, January 1, 2012 12:13 PM
Before Villain, Lee Sang-il graced these pages with his feel-good, shaggy dog story Hula Girls. If there is a polar opposite to that film, Lee has found it. Villain is a dark, emotion packed drama that plumbs the dark side...
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by J Hurtado, December 31, 2011 6:55 PM
The malady caused by the proliferation of loud but predominantly empty Hollywood blockbusters in Philippine shores is most evident in Mac Alejandre's Ang Panday 2. The bombardment of special effects has never been this harmful to the eyes and...
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by Oggs Cruz, December 31, 2011 9:49 AM
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