Tag Archives: Andrew Garfield

The Amazing Spider-Man lives up to its name

ImageOver the last decade Hollywood has made it easy to be cynical of sequels, prequels, re-makes…we even got an adaptation of a board game.  Worse, studios keep converting films to 3D in order to make up for lackluster ticket sales,  and the rush to convert to digital projectors in order to screen said films has come at the cost of visual quality (anyone else sick of the image smear when a camera pans too quickly for these “state of the art” technologies?).

So there’s a lot wrong with movie going these days, but there’s a lot right with The Amazing Spider-Man, even if it is a naked attempt at your wallet. This is why you should see it….

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Red Riding Trilogy – A panorama of the human condition

“Evil Lives Here.” So states the tagline of the made-for-TV miniseries, Red Riding. In it we follow the plethora of lives in a community rebounding from loss and pain as a serial killer stalks their streets. We see a journalist and two cops as they try to make sense of the destruction that surrounds them. But we also get a glimpse into the lives of the victims of such tragedy. Another girl has gone missing, and everyone is rushing around trying to find her before it is too late. Evil may live in the county of Yorkshire, but so does hope, and that makes all the difference.
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Never Let Me Go

Back in 2002, Robin Williams lobbed three dark performance hand grenades, the most powerful of which was One Hour Photo.  What was so compelling about Photo was not only Williams’ ability to channel a character who was simultaneously repulsive, pitiable, and menacing (Anthony Perkins anyone?), but director Mark Romanek’s stark photography.  His shots still remain burned into my cerebral celluloid and his work with Never Let Me Go reveals the same beauty, but doesn’t quite carry the same human vitality. Continue reading