Saturday, July 23, 2016
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)
Documentary that chronicles how Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) was plagued by extraordinary script, shooting, budget, and
casting problems--nearly destroying the life and career of the celebrated director.
Excellent documentary gives unusual insights into the production of a movie and, moreover, on the madness of the making of Apocalypse Now, its prodcution at the time having received more media interest than the finished movie.
Halliwell**:
"Fascinating glimpse not only of filmmaking on a troubled location with
oversized egos in collision, but also of Hollywood attitudes of the
time. It bears out Coppola's summation, 'We had access to too much
money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane."
Maltin***1/2:
"Top-notch documentary...Expertly mixes footage shot by Eleanor Coppola
...during the film's shooting...and decade-later interviews...Revealing
peak into the filmmaking process and a record of events during this
particular film's chaotic shoot."
Friday, July 22, 2016
Knight of Cups (2015)
A writer indulging in all that Los Angeles and Las Vegas has to offer undertakes a search for love and self via a series of adventures with six different women.
No doubt, Terrence Malick is a master with a visionary drive, and again he offers a stellar cast and spectacularly beautiful images; but he's always been on the verge of appearing pretentious, and this time he actually did it; there's no way one can find empathy with a rich, spoilt, bored screenwriter seeking a meaning to his life amidst the privileged world he lives in.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
First Lines: Edmund Gosse - Father and Son
This book is the record of a struggle between two temperaments, two consciences and almost two epochs.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Djúpið (2012)
Based on actual events, a fisherman tries to survive in the freezing
ocean after his boat capsizes off the south coast of Iceland.
Captivating
true life tale that avoids to explain the unusual survivor, but
celebrates the simplicity and raw beauty of the people and the land (and
sea) they live on.
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Blood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
A thriller with a stellar cast functions as study of a complex brotherly love/hate relationship; manages to keep one's attention, despite a large array of characters and subplots and being slightly too long.
Maltin**: "Convincingly performed all around, especially by Caan as their sickly dad, but the too-familiar setups deliver merely the expected."
