This brief review was written as a summary for the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films List. – The great and final act of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s remarkable career was the production of a trilogy called Three Colors — Blue, White, and Red — that represents the colors of the French flag, and the values they represent: liberty, equality and fraternity. This symphonic, poetic trilogy intrigued me in my first encounter with its opening chapter, Blue. Then it began to haunt... Read more
A review by written as a summary for the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films List. – The great French comedy director Jacques Tati starred in four of his own films, playing one of cinema’s most beloved comic figures, Monsieur Hulot. (more…) Read more
This review was written as a summary for the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films List. – The Wind Will Carry Us is often hailed as the masterpiece of Iran’s most celebrated filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami. Apparently lost, some men who claim to be treasure hunters drive their jeep through rugged country in what seems like Middle Of Nowhere, Iran. It’s actually a Kurdish province, and a polite young boy guides the driver — a man called the Engineer (Behzad Dourani)... Read more
A review written as a summary for the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films List. – Until very late in Yasujiro Ozu’s film Tokyo Story, there is no crisis more dramatic than some uncomfortable silences. So what is it that makes this film one of the most revered dramas ever crafted? It’s the simplest of stories: An elderly couple — Shukichi and Tomi — drop in on their adult children in Tokyo, only to find that time and change have... Read more
Stephen King’s long episodic novel The Green Mile about a series of strange and mystical occurrences on death row was an entertaining read, mostly because of the process in which King created and released it. He wrote a new chapter, published it, wrote a new chapter, published it…. It was interesting to see the way he choreographed the many characters and differing plots into a cohesive whole, even if the story was rather formulaic, predictable, and crowd-pleasing. Frank Darabont, who... Read more
It’s almost impossible to talk about any of the new films based on Jane Austen novels without comparing them. Emma is the most colorful, the simplest, the most fun of the three. While Sense and Sensibility loves subtlety, silence, and space, and Persuasion loves realism, repression, and understatement, Emma loves its star Gwyneth Paltrow and all the colorful scenes she inhabits. (more…) Read more
Ebert says he has… (more…) Read more
This review was originally published at Image. – Olivier Assayas’ beautiful new movie Summer Hours begins as three successful, well-educated siblings reunite in the backyard of the rural French house where they grew up. They’re celebrating their mother’s birthday with a leisurely party on her beautiful property. And yet their mother Hélène (Edith Scob)—whose family history is full of art-making and art acquisition—is jumpy and distracted. She’s nearing the end of her life, and everyone is dancing around a discomforting question: What... Read more
This June, as I get in line for my second encounter with the U2360 tour, fans will be enjoying the DVD of their Rose Bowl show. Here’s the trailer… (more…) Read more
Lena Horne died today at 92. Here’s the NPR story. And here is the television performance of hers that I’ll remember most… (more…) Read more
Looking Closer
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