For Veterans, The Point Of No ‘Return’ Often Can Be Found At Home

Kelli, the young Ohio woman portrayed by Linda Cardellini in “Return,” joined the National Guard right after completing high school in the mid-1990s, long after it provided a safe haven for draft-eligible men who weren’t anxious to go to Vietnam to save Southeast Asia for democracy and fast-food franchises. Like many other Americans her age,…

SNL Recap – Helen Mirren and Foo Fighters

If you’ve ever seen an interview with Helen Mirren, then you’d know that in addition to being a world-class actress, she also has a wicked sense of humor.  She has the twin traits of being both regal enough to play Queen Elizabeth II (The Queen) and versatile enough to play the proprietor of a Nevada…

Frenzy on the Wall: If I Had a Ballot 2011

I’m going to give my picks for the Oscars in the major awards, as if I had an actual ballot. Since the Academy cannot be trusted to make the right decisions and will probably make the safe choice whenever possible, it’s fun to give my perspective. Needless to say, I don’t see the Academy sending me a ballot anytime soon.

GROSS BEHAVIOR: Sound and Fury…

Movie going is unquestionably destined to become the opera of the future. By that I mean that the 18th century’s favorite form of entertainment still exists but it long ago ceded its vaunted position. The movies today cannot compete with television and that diversion abetted by home entertainment has had the biggest impact on the Seventh Art since its debut circa 1896.

The Weekend Report, February 5, 2012

With the industry girding for Super Bowl, the opening movie going salvo was heartening. Weekend revenues were off 8% from seven days earlier but a hearty 35% improved from 2011 when debuts of The Roommate and Sanctum topped the charts with respective box office of $15 million and $9.4 million.

Neither Chronicle nor The Woman in Black was expected to open as well as last weekend’s leader The Grey that bowed to $19.7 million. Pundits have largely readjusted estimates to reflect the growing influence of older viewers and the new entries weren’t targeted to plus 25s. However, while the former skewed 55% male and the latter 59% female, they also drew in 61% younger than 25% for Chronicle and 57% in the same demo for Woman in Black.

Len’s Weekend Report to come…

17 Days To Oscar: A Thin Line Between Win & Lose

When an Academy member, just like any other kid in high school, tells their friends whom they voted for, they want to feel good about defending their choice. Fair or not, Melissa McCarthy is “the one who shit in the sink” this year. They may have laughed their colostomy bags off when they saw the film and most voters feel good about Ms McCarthy getting nominated. But when it comes down to bestowing the gold, shit in the pie in the name of dignity will win out over shit in the sink caused by bad Mexican food every time.

DP/30: Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, actor Gary Oldman

And an earlier chat with Gary and his co-star Mark Strong.

DP/30: Chico and Rita. director Fernando Trueba

DVD Geek: Godzilla

No other land or people have suffered from the effects of manmade atomic destruction as Japan has, and the monster, Godzilla, is a metaphor of that destruction that has proven to be as far reaching and enduring in its truthfulness as the creature itself has been in popularity. Even America, which is as symbiotically entwined with Japan’s nuclear catastrophes as the American version of the film is with the Japanese version, has embraced the subliminal power that is conveyed by the rubber-suited monster, and its later, upgraded special effect iterations, raging across the captivating miniature landscapes and cityscapes.

RIP Peter Breck

Seen here in Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor, after exclaiming in interior monologue, “Nymphos!”

Film 2011: “Imagination Gangsters”

MOST MOVIE YEARS HAVE A GLEAMING EXCEPTION to list-making, a lucid, transparent exemplar of work that rises just out of reach year-end litanies. Last year, that film was Disorder; this year, what could it be but Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz’s The Interrupters? In the lengthy, unfinished edit presented at Sundance in January, its wallop…

Adventures in Filmmaking: Something Resembling Forward Motion

The other day I was grumping to my colleague Ray Pride about how I needed something to stir a fire in me to write about. Usually a stroll through my Twitter and Facebook feeds and my routine pit stops through my morning bookmarks is good way to shift my writing mode into gear, but I…

Voynaristic: The Kids Are (Not Quite) All Right

I realize it’s not the popular thing to say, but I’m going to go out on a limb and tell you that I finally got around to seeing The Kids Are All Right and it was just … all right. Look, it’s not a bad film, by any means. In fact, it may even be a pretty good film. But the best film of the year? Or even in the top ten best films of the year? Not quite.

Wilmington on DVDs. The Rum Diary, Harold & Kumar Christmas

This sort-of cinematic roman a clef, changed by writer-director Bruce Robinson—considerably, but that’s all right—is a good nasty show pulsing and snapping and exploding with the witty chaos, counter-culture venom and inspired invective that were the Good Doctor’s mock-shock-and-awe stock in trade. Second-hand Gonzo, it’s true, but even diluted Thompson packs a wallop, since the raw unfiltered original blows the back of your head off.

The Gronvall Files: Asghar Farhadi, writer/director of A Separation

Asghar Farhadi: When I have an image in mind, this image makes me keep returning to my past. I go into my memories, and I start selecting here and there, putting them together. Simultaneously with this process of assembling memories, the characters are being born. And at the same time, the story also starts developing. It’s very difficult for me to describe my process. I’m not really aware of what’s going on, really, as I’m thinking. Many things happen in an unconscious way.