U-571
When director Jonathon Mostow (Breakdown) embarked on the submarine action drama U-571, he knew comparisons to similar films such as Das Boot were inevitable. Not only did he expect them, but he also welcomed them, given that he admired the classic film and based part of his research on it. In comparison, most agree that…
Joe Gould’s Secret
In the bohemian New York City of the 1940s, Joseph Mitchell (Stanley Tucci) is a staff writer at the New Yorker who specializes in pithy portraits of the city’s neglected underclass. So when he first spies the disheveled but well-spoken Joe Gould (Ian Holm) at a Greenwich Village diner, Mitchell smells a story. It turns…
Autobahn road trip
German electronic duo Mouse on Mars delivers monsters of rock to dance floor thinkers by flipping switches, twisting knobs and even (gasp!) strumming strings.
At long last, Lancaster
Time and again, Burt Lancaster chose to make smart, truly adult movies that challenged both himself and his audience. A new biography paints a detailed and sympathetic (but not always flattering) portrait.
Fences vs. neighbors
Geoffrey James shows us our forbidding face….
Hockey and high art
The Jeromes pull a power play at the Whitney Biennial….
Vincent’s Thrifty Acres
Van Gogh rolls over in his Bermudas at the DIA….
State of affairs
State Bar is attached to the ever-popular State Theatre. The decor is romantic and there are a variety of beers, liquors, and appetizers. Black and white historic photos of a once-magnificent Detroit—impressions of a beloved city—hang on every wall. Perfectly soothing. All are welcome.
Vegetarian in Madras
Located along a stretch of Orchard Lake Road that is home to several Indian restaurants, Udipi is the only vegetarian one. Unusual and delicious dishes, including vada, a savory donut made of lentil flour and dotted with bright green cilantro, and dosa, a crêpe made of rice flour, filled to overflowing with tomatoes, potatoes and…
The Bat Whispers
The Bat Whispers (1930), writer-director Roland West’s adaptation of a novel (and later play) by Mary Roberts Rinehart, is a classic example of the “old dark house” film, a genre which seems to have come to a bad end with the recent remake of The Haunting (though The Blair Witch Project cleverly mutated it into…
Corrosion Tone: Contemporary Japanese Experimental Film
It’s a wonder that the avant-garde – the highly serious and self-important avant-garde – has survived the trivializing onslaughts of the Ironic Age, but if this collection of five short Japanese experimental films is any indication, it has. Or at least it has in Japan. These days American experimental films tend to be narrative shuffling…
Deterrence
Like the recent television remake of Fail Safe, Deterrence feels like a Cold War relic even though it’s set in 2008. Shot on a single set, and dependant on dialogue over action, Deterrence has the claustrophobic feel of a filmed play. This conscious artificiality is carefully calculated by writer-director Rod Lurie, who has a big…
Love and Basketball
When 11-year-old Quincy McCall tells his new neighbor Monica Wright that he’s going to be in the NBA and she’ll be his cheerleader, he’s evoking the athletic status quo where men triumphantly compete while women stand on the sidelines. It’s also a defense mechanism because Monica nearly beats him in a game of driveway basketball.…
