Archive
REVIEW: Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Produced by: Carl Molinder, John Nordling
Screenplay by: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Edited by: Tomas Alfredson, Daniel Jonsäter
Cinematography by: Hoyte van Hoytema
Music by: Johan Söderqvist
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Ika Nord, Peter Carlberg, Karin Bergquist, Mikael Rahm, Henrik Dahl, Patrik Rydmark, Rasmus Luthander, Mikael Erhardsson, Johan Sömnes, Elif Ceylan (voice)
Based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Year: 2008
Movies about troubled youths and movies about vampires are pretty easy to come by, but mix the two together, and you’re more often than not going to end up with something that draws more comparisons to Twilight than an actual horror film. Back in 2008, however, Swedish director Tomas Alfredson partnered up with author John Ajvide Lindqvist to adapt Lindqvist’s acclaimed novel Låt den rätte komma in into a film that managed to shed any pretenses of sexy romanticism and juicy interpersonal drama and maintained a level of maturity and somber, dreadful sorrow that’s far more appropriate to both subgenres of storytelling – this, despite the fact that the film’s protagonists were far younger than either one of Twilight’s glittering nitwits. Read more…
REVIEW: Rich Hill
Directed by: Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo
Produced by: Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo, David Armillei
Edited by: Jim Hession
Cinematography by: Andrew Droz Palermo
Music by: Nathan Halpern
Year: 2014
I am not a fan of reality TV. This isn’t exactly a bold statement, I know, but seriously – screw pretty much the whole entire exploitative genre. From absurdly overwrought drama, to manufactured hilarity to peddle some person’s brand or image, to outright delight in the misfortune of others, I hardly see any benefit in reality TV’s existence. The overflow this industry has had into actual reality, what with cameras everywhere at the ready to share some unsuspecting person’s personal issues with everyone, is even more troubling than the stuff people at the very least consent to divulging on television. There’s little artistry in manipulating perception and encouraging schadenfreude with whatever makes it to air. Shame on the people who produce it, and, quite frankly, shame on those who enjoy it, too. I’m not excluding myself in that, mind you. I’ve dabbled in taking pleasure at the horrific performances of admittedly terrible singers and judged the merit of people’s very existence based on a few minutes of footage aired weekly that could have very likely been a façade meant to make the footage seem much more interesting and outrageous than it actually was.
Documentaries, however – at least the good ones – differ from reality TV in that their primary goal is usually to invoke some kind of understanding and empathy; the goal is usually education over entertainment. Though documentarires, too, are edited to fit the purpose of the filmmaker, it’s often with artistic goals in mind, there’s usually a respect for the intelligence of the audience to understand the filmmaker’s intentions and the footage being presented to them. Read more…
Theatrical Review: “The World’s End”
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Produced by: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Nira Park
Written by: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Edited by: Paul Machliss
Cinematography by: Bill Pope
Music by: Steven Price
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, David Bradley, Michael Smiley, Pierce Brosnan, Bill Nighy
Year: 2013
Well, it’s finally here – the conclusion to the loosely connected, genre-homaging Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, the long rumored, long in development film known as The World’s End – not to be confused with This Is the End, the American film released earlier this summer. The conclusion to what accidentally became a trilogy was long in coming, and while I don’t remember exactly when I first heard about it, it was a long time ago, I know that for sure. Director Edgar Wright’s original script, titled Crawl, was written 21 years ago, but the concept of turning Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz into the first 2/3 of a quasi-trilogy never really came into fruition until the filming of Hot Fuzz. People, such as myself, who were eager to see the final entry were tided over with the likes of the unrelated-yet-still-somewhat-similar Paul from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and Edgar Wright’s brilliant but sadly overlooked adaptation of the comic Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but when you consider the fact that it’s been six long years since the release of Hot Fuzz, it’s easy to understand why fans were getting a bit restless. But, finally, it’s here, and I’m happy to say that it is every bit as good as its predecessors. Read more…
