If you were paying attention around Oscar-time, you may have noticed that a film called The Impossible was up for a few awards here and there. Naomi Watts was nominated for acting awards pretty much everywhere. Many film critics were hailing the film as a fine drama. However, of all …
I admit, this is probably the least useful how-to article ever written. People who fall in love with the cinema seem to have no problem plunging in without any guidance whatsoever. However, these thoughts have been rattling around in my brain for a while, and for me, any excuse to …
Back in December 2012, I saw the first promotional trailer for Pain & Gain, Michael Bay’s latest cinematic outing. I’m usually lukewarm on Michael Bay at best, but when I saw the trailer, something in my lizard brain said, “Yes. Yes, I want to see that. I want to see …
Dakegra: Did Bourne redefine the action genre? Discuss. Me: Yes. KyleCassidy: Bourne stood on the shoulders of Bond and John Woo. The view from that high up is pretty epic. Books not so actioney. Dakegra: True. Me: However, it was the Bourne films that made other contemporary action films look …
I’m going straight for your attention-jugular with these words: Blancanieves (2012) is an adaptation of Snow White, except it’s about bullfighters. And yes, there are dwarves. It also happens to be a fantastic movie. Blancanieves is a Spanish, silent, black-and-white ode to the films of the late silent era. I’m pretty …
Escape from Tomorrow is a film I literally thought I’d never get to see. Shot entirely at Disney theme parks without permission, this black-and-white fantasy-horror-comedy might never reach distribution before being squashed like a bug under the heels of Disney’s lawyers. However, it was the rage at Sundance a few months …
If devouring an obscene amount of movies in my daily life has taught me anything, it’s the fact that there is no such thing as a film that appeals to everyone. Every great classic has at least one hater. The trick is whether the hater can reasonably articulate their dislike, …
Paul Cox is the sort of director that film nerds should know about. He’s a well-known arthouse director in some circles, but overall, he seems to fly under the radar. His work only became known to me after I started attending Ebertfest a few years ago; Mr. Cox frequently attends the festival, and …
I’ve been sick all week, so I’ve been remiss in my blogging duties. However, I solemnly swear to deliver full reports about the films at Ebertfest in the upcoming days. For now, here are some images from the non-movie-watching moments of this year’s Ebertfest adventure.
So. Here I am. I enjoy Ebertfest greatly. I’ve attended the film festival since 2009, and I find it to be a great, relaxing endeavor. The festival features only 12 films over the course of five days (compare that to Butt-Numb-a-Thon, which shows that many in 24 hours). The festival …
