“What I felt then was a love as pure, as immaterial, as mysterious, as if I had been in the presence of those inanimate creatures which are the beauties of nature” — Marcel Proust, “In Search of Lost Time” The films of Slovenian director Vlado Skafar, director, writer and co-founder of the Slovenian Cinematheque, do…
Philosophers throughout history have wrestled with the question of ends and means, right and wrong, and good or bad. Socrates said, “It is never right to do wrong.” Others maintain that it is right to act in such a way that it produces the most desirable consequences whether or not it follows society’s rules. For…
Crimson petals. Red rose. Scarlet sheets. Silk shirt. That’s Julieta’s torso, moving with a breath of agony as she packs her stuff. When we finally see her face, we see the evened eyes of long held pain, the kind that leaves deep-carved scars in what seems to be a life-long depression. It would not be…
Writer-director Jayro Bustamante’s absorbing and revealing debut feature, Ixcanul, paints a disturbing portrait that crosses the fine line between tradition and exploitation in the name of the Guatemalan children sacrificed to uphold economical expectations among other considerations. The indigenous existences of children globally are jeopardized through ritualistic justifications that many find vehemently inexcusable and horrifying….
Writer/director Shane Black certainly knows how to make a good buddy-cop movie. He chalked a first Hollywood kill with 1987’s “Lethal Weapon,” the tale of two trigger-happy LAPD detectives, now considered a cornerstone of the cannon. His partner on that project was producer (now super-producer) Joel Silver, with the pair continuing to collaborate in the…
Evidently filmmaker Garry Marshall cannot seem to get away from his tediously formulaic playbook of themed movie-making and certainly the tepid and toothless Mother’s Day reinforces this cinematic sentiment. Marshall is determined to exploit these cornball conveyor belt holiday-based movies that shamelessly boast an all-star cast, shallow sentimentality, heavy-handed and forced nuttiness and the gimmickry of…
For the sake of curiosity, the only selling point that angsty indie drama One More Time appears to boast is its depiction of Christopher Walken and Amber Heard of all people as father and daughter. That’s an odd pairing right there and while Walken’s shtick is one of the most famous in the business, he’s…
