Category Archives: Reviews

The Adjustment Bureau – they’ll steal your love

Posted on March 4, 2011 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

In 1999 we saw Thomas Anderson being told to free his mind from the Matrix; now, in 2011, Matt Damon tries to break free of “The Adjustment Bureau” – for love. Sounds silly and corny, but that’s the best part of this lumbering conspiracy thriller. Continue reading →

DVD Tuesday: Love & Other Drugs

Posted on March 1, 2011 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

From a young age, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for romantic comedies. Perhaps this is an odd thing for a guy to admit, but there was something comforting to be found in the trope, and in each film’s deviation from it. “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy gets girl back” was told a hundred different ways, and none of them quite matched up to the formula exactly. Love & Other Drugs, then, I was expecting to at least enjoy. Unfortunately, due to the lackluster performance by both leads, due to the irrelevance of the social commentary, and most importantly, due to the complete lack of originality, this is the worst film I have seen from last year. Continue reading →

Drive Angry 3D makes Nicolas Cage awesome again

Posted on February 26, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 2 comments

Here is a film directed by the same guy who did My Bloody Valentine 3D, starring the lately lack-luster Nicolas Cage (Season of the Witch, Sorcerer’s Apprentice), and a ridiculous title. Drive Angry 3D has all the packaging of a sh*t sandwich, which is why you’ll be confused, then delighted, with how awesome it is. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Reviews

Tagged Amber Heard, Drive Angry 3D, Grindhouse, Nicolas Cage, William Fichtner

Laughter far and few in “Cedar Rapids”

Posted on February 24, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 2 comments

Don’t you hate it when the best jokes are in the trailer? It’s even worse when almost all of the jokes are in the trailer. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Reviews

Tagged Anne Heche, Cedar Rapids, Ed Helms

DVD Tuesday: Get Low

Posted on February 22, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 1 comment

When the Academy announced the nominations for Best Actor almost a month ago, many were hoping that Duvall would snag one for his role in this film, Get Low. In it he plays a tormented man, held back by a secret he has kept for over 40 years. His very soul seems to stand in the balance, and the type of performance it would require from him, as well as the eccentric character he plays, seemed to be necessary and sufficient for Oscar gold. At that time, I had not seen it, and as a result I was very skeptical of this type of buzz; after all, the five nominees (Firth, Eisenberg, Franco, Bardem, and Bridges) all deserved their place. However, Duvall gives one of his greatest performances and reveals one of his most interesting characters ever. And that alone is worth the price of a rental. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged Bill Murray, Get Low, Robert Duvall

“Shaun of the Dead” alumni bring hilarity to sci-fi comedy “Paul”

Posted on February 18, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 6 comments

The last time you saw Nick Frost and Simon Pegg together they were in Hot Fuzz, diving through the air firing two guns at the same time screaming “Ahhh!” Four years later, Frost and Pegg have written and starred in a hilarious ode to all things sci-fi in Paul.

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Reviews

Tagged Comedy, Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz, Nick Frost, Paul, Sci-Fi, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Seth Rogen, Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg

DVD Tuesday: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Posted on February 15, 2011 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

Of all the prolific filmmakers that have ever lived, Woody Allen is second only to Rainer Werner Fassbinder. He has directed over 40 films since his career began in 1967, and Allen’s fans agree that very few are sub-par. Of course, with any great director, the autumn years tend to show a noticeable decline in quality, and certainly this can be said for Allen. But his newest film, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, may be one of his best. Continue reading →

Biutiful is Emotionally Wrecking

Posted on February 10, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 3 comments

When I left the theater, slightly dazed, after seeing Biutiful, I knew that I would write this review; whether it would be positive or negative was still up in the air. All I could tell for sure was that while watching this difficult, slow, and often frustrating movie I had experienced something, glimpsed a great truth, gained and lost an infinite thing. Many people will dislike this movie, as they have Inarritu’s previous films (Babel especially). But for me, 72 hours later, there is little else occupying my mind. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Reviews

Tagged Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Biutiful, Ikiru, Javier Bardem, Kurosawa

Enter the Void: An Experimental Neon Nightmare

Posted on February 9, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 10 comments

Enter the Void‘s director Gaspar Noé is most famous for his previous film, Irreversible. Its notoriety isn’t due to a compelling narrative, but rather the brutal 10-minute long rape scene. With Enter the Void, Noé is hellbent on retaining his infamy in a 161 minute long* trek through time and Tokyo. Continue reading →

10 Comments

Posted in Reviews

Tagged Enter the Void, Gaspar Noé, Irreversible

Mini-Nazis Provide Therapy in “Marwencol”

Posted on February 6, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 1 comment

Fictions play a foundational role in our society. We encounter many of these fictions as images that feel bigger than we are, juggernauts projected onto the world we inhabit: social constructions of monetary value or race, or images on television considered synonymous with reality. In Marwencol we see the process from the other end as we follow a man who chooses and controls his fictions, projecting his real-life traumas onto a 1/6 scale world as alternative therapy. Continue reading →