At the movies: Bottoms.

 

Emma Seligman continues to knock them out of the park. Bottoms is the kind of weirdo High School adventure I wish we'd had back in the '90s.

At the movies: 13 Hours.

If you're familiar with some of previous reviews of the films of Michael Bay, you might wonder why I ended up reviewing his new film, 13 Hours. The universe is an unpredictable place.

At the movies: Avengers: Age of Ultron.

More of the same. 

At the movies: Unfriended.

This is a ghoulish and emotionally brutal film that I can't help but recommend. Whether in a decently packed theatre or alone, on a laptop with headphones, it will get into your places of security and shred them. 

Famous People Talked to me: Gone Girl at the NYFF.

Another year, another exceptional New York Film Festival. The big writeup is coming soon, but here's the opening night film, David Fincher's Gone Girl, with its big cast and crew interview/discussion/press conference. The film is exceptional, very Verhoevian, and part of its pleasures are seeing it with an audience being buffeted about by its gloriously sick twists and turns.

At the movies: The Purge: Anarchy.

Another year, another ritual bloodletting... This year's Purge expands upon its initial installment with verve and adrenaline-fuelled rage, and I can't help but recommend it to anybody who is exasperated with/terrified by the reactionary foolishness that's bludgeoning the people of the U.S.

One thing that I wanted to emphasize in my review but that sort of got pared down into a less grammatically contentious phrase (something which happens a lot in the editing process, which is certainly a good thing) is how there's been an insidious strategy, both in the film's dramaturgy and in real life, where the poor get brainwashed into thinking that their enemy, the only thing standing between them and untold riches, are other poor people. It's divide and conquer theory, but somehow more peacockish about its evil.

At the movies: 300: Rise of an Empire 3D.

As much as I hated the original 300 (and oh, did I- even busting out the Boo-urns on it), I kind of enjoyed aspects of the new film, mainly because it's a little more interesting and not nearly as stupid as its progenitor.

At the movies: Ms. 45.

A short piece for the Scene on the occasion of Ms. 45's theatrical rerelease.

At the movies: The Visitor (Stridulum).

Ah, The Vistor. Also known as Stridulum. Also known as That Movie where Everything That Could Possibly Happen in fact Does... It's a very special film, and thanks to Drafthouse Films, it's being unleashed upon a world that can show it the love it properly deserves. Don't let it pass you by. 

At the movies: Heaven's Gate.

Yes, it's more than three and a half hours long. Yes, it's the movie that ended the era of studios giving directors leeway, power, and the benefit of the doubt. And yes, you should see it if at all possible.

At the movies: The 50th Annual New York Film Festival.

 For my eleventh consecutive New York Film Festival, I wanted to have a grand experience. I only saw two films I hated, so that certainly counts for something.

 There were so many dazzling moments, I just sort of had to keep my responses internal, barring the occasional gleeful gasp or slack-jawed amazement.

So here's my write-up from NYFF 2012. I hope you enjoy it. There were so many good films that I couldn't fit them all in, so much respect also to Pablo Larrain's No and Damon Packard's Foxfur, which I recommend to all.

At the movies: Total Recall '12.

So, for some reason Hollywood is determined to remake all of Paul Verhoeven's SciFi classics. The first effort in this multimillion dollar recycling campaign is Total Recall, recently unleashed to theatres with a tad of fanfare. And yes, given recent events in the world, it's absolutely important that a film gets into why time and time again, unsettled minds feel the need to have to define their own reality through horrifying acts of violence... oh wait, this isn't that movie at all. If anything, its PG-13 sanitized massacres are creepier and much more offensive than the original's Swiftian bloodlettings.

At the movies: Savages.

Ah. Welcome back, insane Oliver...

I love Oliver Stone's more bonkers films, and this is certainly that. A feast of sex, violence, drugs, double-crossing, thrills, gore, mayhem, incisive performative critique, and Travoltarama! Check it out...

At the movies: The Raid - Redemption.

As I've often said, there's really no -sploitation like Indonesiansploitation. To put it another way, now I have more than just H. Tjut Djalil to recommend to people when they want to experience the liberating madness of Indonesia's cinematic id. I had a talk with icon and national treasure Jim Ridley after a press screening a couple of weeks back, and you can read it here. Please do so...

At the movies: Margaret.

So, after much hemming and hawing and protestations, Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret is finally making its way  to Nashville. It feels like a lifetime, which is somehow fitting, because the film encompasses many lifetimes. 

I got lucky enough to be able to write about the film for the Scene, and the end result was a behemoth (somewhere around 2,600 words). You can read the refocused piece here, and then, after you've seen the film, you should check out the appendix to the piece, or, in remix terminology, the Bonus Beats, which are here. This section is much more spoilery, so do keep that in mind.

At the movies: Salo.

You know what's an interesting challenge? Finding an image from Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom, that doesn't trigger about a thousand different NetWatch alerts. 

So I wrote about the late, great Pier Paolo Pasolini's epic of defilement online at The Scene this week, and I hope you might find it an intriguing experience. I have only seen the film once, at a special double feature (with Seul Contre Tous/I Stand Alone) curated and hosted by Gaspar Noe at New York's IFC Center several years back. I share this tidbit not to namedrop, but rather to get at how the film can stay with you long after you see it.

So, Vanderbilt's International Lens series is showing the film, for free, on campus, which is gutsy and admirable. I do not welcome the eStorm of controversy and distraught underclassmen they may encounter, but I'd love to read the eMails after the fact. 

At the movies: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

A vertiginous tale of IMAX trauma and an auspicious live-action debut for one of The Simpsons and Pixar's secret weapons...

At the movies: Breaking Dawn - Part I.

So, this movie you might have heard of opened this weekend.

As you can see above, it's nonstop hot Brazilian honeymoon action. But there are certainly some enjoyably campy facets. Read all about it within...

At the movies: Drive.

So, this film opened on Friday and it's got a few people talking about it. I think it's particularly awesome. You should check it out. Here's some more of my thoughts on the subject.

At the movies: Attack the Block.

So I was recently approached by a local arts magazine to do a bit of film writing for them, so I did. Let me know your thoughts.