Disney has a knack for producing movies that aren’t terribly demanding, but are very entertaining for kids of all ages, including grown-up ones. “John Carter,” loosely adapted from the Edgar Rice Burroughs book “A Princess of Mars,” is just such a flick. If you’re the kind of person who can’t set aside science and enjoy a grand adventure on the surface of Mars, this is not a movie for you.
And that means coverage on The Cineblog! Woo! This week and next, no regular reviews, just Cinequest coverage. Go check it out!
There’s a certain pleasure in seeing a familiar job done well with a slightly new mix of tools, and that’s just what “Safe House” is. There’s not much new about this CIA double-cross story, but the setting, actors, cinematography, and story details are a new combination, and it’s enjoyable watching familiar gears mesh and turn in the new setup.
Hammer Productions was synonymous with horror movies once upon a time. The brought us “The Horror of Dracula,” “Twins of Terror,” “The Devil Rides Out,” and scores of others. They’ve made a comeback in recent years, bringing us “Let Me In,” “Wake Wood,” and “The Resident.” Now, with “The Woman in Black,” they bring us a classic ghost tale sure to please fans of films like “The Others” and “The Orphanage.”
“One for the Money” seemes to be getting treated like a red-headed stepchild by its production companies — preview screenings for critics were delayed or simply not held, and although it’s a light-hearted action comedy, it’s being released in the no-man’s-land cinematic tundra of late January. It’s a shame, because this charming little film is a lot of fun.
There’s a lot to like in Steven Soderbergh’s new film, “Haywire,” but there’s a lot that doesn’t quite come together. The director is reportedly planning to take a sabbatical once his currently in-progress films are wrapped, to get a fresh start, and it’s easy to interpret the uneven pacing and cinematography in “Haywire” as him reaching for something fresh. The film is still enjoyable, particularly during the fight scenes.
“Carnage” is being billed as “a comedy of no manners,” and that’s it in a nutshell. When one boy hits another in the face with a stick, knocking out two of his teeth, the boys’ parents meet to discuss the situation. The victim’s parents, community-building Penelope (Jodie Foster) and blue-collar Michael (John C. Reilly), invite the stick-weilder’s parents, brittle Nancy (Kate Winslet) and boorish Alan (Christoph Waltz) over for what should be an awkward but straightforward conversation. Before long, it devolves into a four-way screaming match.
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen
Rated: R for sexual content and brief language
The birth of psychoanalysis was as painful and difficult as most births seem to be — but it involved several people rather than one surrounded by midwives and caretakers. The fraught relationships between Sigmund Freud, C. G. Jung, and Sabina Spielrein pushed and pulled the science into the complex, widely-differing field we know today. Based on the nonfiction book by John Kerr, “A Dangerous Method” is a dramatization of the early years of psychoanalysis.
And we’re off! I’ve imported all of my movie reviews and started the long process of tagging and formatting them all properly. Soon(ish) to come: My honors and Masters theses, fiction, and columns/essays from the past. High excitement!
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Hurt, Toby Jones, David Dencik, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch
Rated: R for violence, some sexuality/nudity and language
It’s rare to see a film with the courage to be as slow and quiet as “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is, but director Tomas Alfredson is no stranger to cinematic bravery — he directed the original Swedish “Let The Right One In,” which was at its heart a love story between an androgynous vampire and a bullied preteen. He handles this adaptation of John le Carre’s famous Cold War spy novel with a delicate touch, like a painter creating an enormous image one dot at a time.