Thug Cinema
Guy Ritchie’s dastardly Sherlock Holmes reboot
By Armond White
Guy Ritchie’s calculations in his sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows are so low-down they’re almost diabolical. He has retooled the famous fictional detective character with no respect for either Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary creation or the ticket-buying audience. Against tradition (previous incarnations of Holmes emphasized mystery and deduction), Ritche panders to the current, degraded taste for blatancy and violence. Read more
The 21st Annual New York Jewish Film Festival
January marks the beginning of a new film festival season—and what better way to kick it off than with the 21st annual New York Jewish Film Festival, Jan. 11–26? Presented in partnership with The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the festival promises to provide a diverse global perspective on the Jewish experience with 35 features and shorts from 11 countries, many of which will be followed by post-screening Q&As with filmmakers and special guests in attendance. Read more
Armond White’s Film Capsules
50/50—The buddy comedy genre faces cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is helped through crisis by Seth Rogen. Decent emotions get cheated of depth by blithe, nonspiritual approach. Dir. Jonathan Levine.
Read more
Armond White’s Film Capsules
By Armond White
50/50
The buddy comedy genre faces cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is helped through crisis by Seth Rogen. Decent emotions get cheated of depth by blithe, nonspiritual approach. Dir. Jonathan Levine.
Read more
Another Happy Day Caps a Great Year
Ellen Barkin’s new movie is the icing on the cake of her 2011
By Mark Peikert
“I don’t think I’ve ever said the words ‘I’m proud of myself,’” Ellen Barkin said over coffee recently at Soho’s MEET at The Apt. “But this movie is the greatest accomplishment of my career.”
Read more
Armond White’s Film Capsules
50/50
The buddy comedy genre faces cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is helped through crisis by Seth Rogen. Decent emotions get cheated of depth by blithe, nonspiritual approach. Dir. Jonathan Levine.
Read more
Film capsules
By Armond White
30 Minutes or Less—A satire about the competition for money and recognition that drives Americans crazy, made more humorous than cynical by Danny McBride and Jesse Eisenberg’s solipsistic humanity as kidnapper and victim. Minor but authentic new millennium century comedy. Dir. Ruben Fleischer.
Read more
Madoff Documentary Exposes Failures in System
By Ed Koch
Chasing Madoff (+)
I liked this documentary about Bernie Madoff, which has received mixed reviews.
The star of the movie is Harry Markopolos, an expert in the brokerage field. While looking for potential investors, Markopolos and his partners are rejected by individuals who have invested with Madoff, happy with the huge, regular returns they receive from him. When his partners ask Markopolos if he can compete with Madoff’s returns, he takes one look at the monthly statements and says it’s impossible. Why? Because the returns always rise and never fall. Markopolos concludes that Madoff is operating a Ponzi scheme.
Read more
No-Fun Gus and the Opposite of a Life Force
Gus Van Sant’s latest takes seriousness deadly serious; Ryan Gosling delivers a dull Steve McQueen impersonation in the obvious Drive.
By Armond White
Restless
Directed by Gus Van Sant
All that keeps the death-infatuated Restless from being laughably dismissed like last year’s Charlie St. Cloud is that it’s signed by Gus Van Sant. No mere sentimentalist who would employ a tween heartthrob like Zac Efron, Van Sant specializes in serious gloom.
Read more
Story reigns supreme in The Hedgehog
By Ed Koch
The Hedgehog (+)
I truly enjoyed this film from beginning to end. It has a slow rhythm, and although nothing very exciting happens until the very end, it is totally absorbing.
Read more
