MCN: Movie City News

1,000 Monkeys
So Many Monkeys Jumping
on the Bed

by Kim Voynar

Balancing kids with work, particularly now that I'm a single mom, can be a challenge; it helps that I have a level of stamina that those around me sometimes find overwhelming and annoying. When I have to be, I am the proverbial Energizer Bunny: I keep going and going and going ... although, as I've had to learn these past six months of battling illness, the battery does, occasionally, run out.

______________________________

Frenzy on the Wall
Red Riding: Better Than the Godfather?
by Noah Forrest

I must say that I wasn't that appreciative of the films as a whole right after watching them. It was something that I slogged through because I was told I needed to and because David Thomson said that Red Riding was better than The Godfather. These comparisons hurt the film because it could not possibly live up to that billing. But the more time I've had to think about it, to let the films marinate in my brain, the more I realize how masterful they are.

The story—Tatum’s somber hunk John Tyree and Seyfried’s winsome blond cutie Savannah Curtis meet on the beach and fall in love on the Carolina coast in two breathless weeks, then are separated for years while John fulfills his armed forces commitments in the world crisis after 9/11—is as phony as they come.

Voynaristic
Oscar, Schmoscar
by Kim Voynar

The category I care most about this year is Best Director. I really, really want to see Kathryn Bigelow win this one, both because she deserves it for making such a completely kick-ass film, and because dammit, it is LONG past time for a woman to win Best Director. This is the year for it to happen. And if it does, I hope that no one will take away from Bigelow's outstanding achievement directing The Hurt Locker with any snide-ass remarks about the "token" female director winner.

______________________________

Few Americans have led lives more exciting or noteworthy than Amelia Earhart, an aviator whose accomplishments continue to inspire women and men who live to fly. Her willingness to tempt fate was equaled only by her self-confidence. How, then, was it possible for Mira Nair–a director of undeniable talent —to make a film as dull and lifeless as Amelia?

Wilmington on DVDs
The House of the Devil, The Wolfman, The Godfather: Coppola Restoration ...and more
by Michael Wilmington

Instead The House of the Devil, made by another kind of low-budget horror auteur, Ti West, is a different kind of bloody throwback, done in the more restrained attack and mood (compared to today) of the ‘70s, the era of moody and violent low-budgeters like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Halloween. It’s a retro shocker, with sweet-faced, tight-jeaned Jocelin Donahue as the menaced babysitter Samantha, and Tom Noonan, Marty Woronov, Danielle Noe and AJ Bowen as the Ulman clan that menaces her.

The Ultimate DVD Geek
Che
by Doug Pratt

It is masterfully composed and finely acted, with many distinctive sequences, but on the whole, it is as dull as a Party meeting. The only factor, other than historical accuracy, that saves it from being a complete waste of time is the sound mix in the battle scenes, which are especially rousing on Criterion's two-platter Blu-ray release. The battle scenes are sporadic and often incidental, as if actually giving them an emotional arc would be too 'Hollywood,' but whenever they kick in, you start ducking, because bullets go whizzing by every which way, and it is a unique, heart-quickening experience. As for the rest of both parts of the film, there is very little life to it.

Frenzy on the Wall
If I Had a Ballot
by Noah Forrest

Is the Academy trying to get “cool points” with the kids? Kids aren’t watching the damn show anyway. You really think that just because District 9 and Star Trek are going to be nominated that your average teenager is going to sit through a three-and-a-half hour show hosted by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin? If you believe that, I’ve got a great talk show at 10pm on NBC to sell you…

Voynaristic
Review Roundup: Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Lovely Bones and Up in the Air
by Kim Voynar

Pandora is all vibrant blues and greens and feels like a living, breathing thing that the Na'vi are a part of, though, and in the sense of creating a computer generated world that feels as real as technology will allow, Cameron succeeds. I just wish the story that holds up the fancy technology had been a little less predictable, a little less shallow.

______________________________

20 Weeks to Oscar
10 Is Good
by David Poland

But it’s more than who is still in play. It’s the shut-down mentality that comes, especially in a year like this, when you only have the five nominees. Precious, Invictus, Up, and An Education would all be sweating nominations a lot more than they are this weekend in a field of five. Would that be a good thing?

To offer some perspective, I decided to parse our MCN Critics Top Ten Chart as though it was an Oscar nomination vote.

Top Tens of
The Decade
The Scoreboard
The Lists of Lists

2009 Top Tens
The Scoreboard
The Lists of Lists