We Are the Best! (2013)

We Are the Best! (2013)

We Are the Best! (Vi är bäst!) (2013) ★★★★★ Dir: Lucas Moodysson Magnolia Pictures (Official Site) 102 minutes U.S. Theatrical Release May 30, 2014 (Limited) – Director Lukas Moodysson’s Together (2000), though lauded as a warm and progressive comedy, indulged in a judgmental tone, mostly directed at gays and women and manifesting as stereotypes invoked…

Beneath the Harvest Sky (2014)

Beneath the Harvest Sky (2014)

Beneath the Harvest Sky (2013) ★☆☆☆☆ Dir: Aron Gaudet, Gita Pullapilly Tribeca Film (Official Site) 116 minutes U.S. Theatrical Release May 2, 2014 – Casper (Emory Cohen) is a genial asshole, a troubled teen who threatens teachers, gets his young girlfriends pregnant and steals prescriptions for his pill-slinging father (Aiden Gillen); it’s no wonder everyone…

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Based on Neil Simon’s Broadway play of the same name, The Sunshine Boys (1975) follows the acrimonious reunion of two former Vaudevillian comedians whose 43-year run as Lewis and Clark — the Sunshine Boys — ended abruptly a decade prior when Clark (George Burns) decided to retire. The cantankerous Lewis (Walter Matthau) is still getting…

The Big Elsewhere

The Big Elsewhere

Unused poster art for Radioland Murders (1994), courtesy 3B Theater!   It’s been a while since I managed to post a little link roundup of my recent articles and reviews plus other innerestin’ things, so this isn’t really a little link roundup at all, but a medium-sized roundup, but it should still fit inside a…

King David (1985)

King David (1985)

There is no shame in watching a movie because it’s aesthetically beautiful. King David, the 1985 Biblical epic directed by Bruce Beresford, is just such a beautiful film, exciting and epic in scope. But, as Vincent Canby wrote in the New York Times, it is not a good film. The Australian Beresford, whose Breaker Morant…

The Rose and the Jackal (1990)

The Rose and the Jackal (1990)

Beginning in the late 1980s, the newly-launched TNT network, owned by Ted Turner, began to produce their own original programming. Early examples included several documentaries of actors and directors, frequently using clips from the thousands of films Turner owned after his enormous, $1.5  billion purchase of numerous archives and film libraries in 1986. TNT, in…

Pennies from Heaven (1981)

Pennies from Heaven (1981)

After his famous stint on Saturday Night Live and critically-acclaimed stand-up act, Steve Martin made his way into films in the late 1970s. Securing a solid (if completely bonkers) hit with The Jerk (1979), Hollywood seemed to feel Martin could only fill a very particular niche: the retro movie. Maybe it started with Sgt. Pepper’s…

Bright Days Ahead (2013)

Bright Days Ahead (2013)

Bright Days Ahead (Les beaux jours) (2013) ★★★☆☆ Dir: Marion Vernoux Tribeca Film (Official Site) 92 minutes U.S. Release April 24, 2014     Caroline (Fanny Ardant) is a newly-retired dentist, restless and on edge. Her daughters, equal parts obligated and exasperated, give her a trial membership to a seniors’ club called Bright Days Ahead.…