NO VACANCY: Movie reviews of 78/52 and The Florida Project by Howard Casner
Posted: November 10, 2017 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 78/52, Alexander O. Philippe, Alfred Hitchcock, Bria Vinaite, Brooklyn Prince, Chris Bergoch, Danny Elfman, Elijah Wood, Guillermo del Toro, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marli Renfro, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, Psycho, Sean Baker, The Florida Project, Willem Dafoe | 10,950 Comments »
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Warning: SPOILERS
Writer/director Alexander O. Philippe’s 78/52 is not only everything you wanted to know about the infamous scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal film Psycho that did for showers what Jaws would later do for Fourth of July swimming in the seas, but everything you didn’t know you wanted to know (the name derives from the set piece requiring 78 camera set ups and 52 shots).
There has always been something perverse, not just about all of Hitchcock’s oeuvre, but especially in Psycho.
It’s not just that the movie is horrifying and scares the shit out of you.
It’s not just that it’s somewhat mean spirited (not just to the audience, but to the characters on screen).
It’s just that you can tell Hitchcock is having fun killing someone in such a way that both terrifies the audience while making them enjoy it and then feel guilty about it.
A STUDY IN SCARLET and TALES OF HOFFMAN: Movie reviews of Lucy and A Most Wanted Man by Howard Casner
Posted: August 4, 2014 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: A Most Wanted Man, Amr Waked, Andrew Bovell, Anton Corbijin, Daniel Bruhl, Homayoun Ershadi, John Le Carre, Luc Besson, Lucy, Min-sik Choi, Morgan Freeman, Nina Hoss, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Willem Dafoe | 2 Comments »First, a word from our sponsors. Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
Warning: SPOILERS
Ricky Ricardo: Lucy’s actin’ crazy. Fred Mertz: Crazy for Lucy, or crazy for ordinary people?
I Love Lucy
First, I must begin by being absolutely clear so that everyone knows where I stand. Lucy, the new sci-fi thriller written and directed by French filmmaker (and some people use that term loosely in this context) Luc Besson is a terrible film.
I mean, c’mon. You know it. I know it. We all know it’s terrible. It’s silly, nonsensical, preposterous, absurd, often makes no sense and is not remotely believable, even for an unrealistic fantasy sci-fi thriller.
Which is also, in m any ways, a redundant way to state it because, well, gees, I mean, c’mon, it’s a Besson film, for Christ’s sake.
But with that being said, it may very well be a…dare I say it…I dare…great terrible movie. Read the rest of this entry »
DEATH, CAN’T LIVE WITH IT, CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT: Movie reviews of The Fault in Our Stars and Dormant Beauty by Howard Casner
Posted: June 20, 2014 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Ansel Elgort, Dormant Beauty, Eluana Englaro, Isabelle Huppert, John Boone, John Green, Laura Dern, Marco Bellochio, Maya Sansa, Michael H. Weber, Mike Birbiglia, Nat Wolff, San Trammell, Scott Neustadter, Shailene Woodley, Stefano Rulli, The Fault in Our Stars, Toni Servillo, Veronica Raimo, Willem Dafoe | 1,800 Comments »Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
Warning: SPOILERS
Jeffrey: You loved Darius. And look what happens. Do you want me to go through this, with Steve?
Sterling: Yes.
Jeffrey, Paul Rudnick
I’m not sure why, but I always get the feeling that when Romeo and Juliet is made into a movie it’s a hit and that teens tend to flock to that story as if their life depended upon it as much as it does the title characters of the play.
I’ve never quite understood why people so young are so fascinated by their own mortality, and even more so, find the need to have it represented in such a gorgeously tragic manner. Read the rest of this entry »
LOVE, DEATH and LOVE & DEATH: Movie Reviews of Fading Gigolo, Blue Ruin and Nymphomaniac: Vol. II by Howard Casner
Posted: May 8, 2014 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Blue Ruin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Fading Gigolo, Jamie Bell, Jeremy Saulnier, John Turturro, Lars von Trier, Liev Schreiber, Macon Blair, Marco Pontecorvo, Nymphomaniac Vol. II, Shia Lebouf, Stellan Skarsgard, Vanessa Paradis, Willem Dafoe, Woody Allen | 7,247 Comments »
Fading Gigolo is about a man, Fioravante, who, without intending to in any way, shape or form, falls into being a gigolo (don’t you just hate it when that happens?).
It’s written by, directed by and stars John Turturro. But it probably should be noted that it co-stars Woody Allen. The reason this is significant is that in many ways, Fading Gigolo is a Woody Allen film that isn’t written by, isn’t directed by, and doesn’t star the famed writer/director himself.
It has the wit of a Woody Allen film. It deals with the Woody Allen themes of love and neuroses. It takes place in New York. Woody Allen is in it.
Hamilton Burger, I rest my case. Read the rest of this entry »
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