Greta Gerwig is not Zooey Deschanel, and we should be thankful for that. In mumblecore movies like Hannah Takes the Stairs and Baghead, and in mainstream comedies such as No Strings Attached and Arthur, Gerwig plays quirky and adorable, awkward and charming. But those traits haven't solidified into a tiresome trademark, like Deschanel's Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She hasn't turned herself into a brand; she stays just unpredictable enough. Gerwig's fumbling and self-doubt feel natural, not coached.
The 10 Films I'm Most Excited To See At The Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday, is the year's premier film festival, the launching pad in recent years for celebrated movies like The Tree of Life, No Country for Old Men, The Artist, Amour, Holy Motors and Inglourious Basterds. It's funny that Cannes takes place just as summer movie season is…
Nice catch. That's corrected. (Thanks.)
Near the beginning of Stories We Tell, director Sarah Polley's documentary about her family, her sister Joanna is asked how she feels about being part of the movie. Perfectly candid, she responds, "I guess I have this sorta instinctive reaction of, like, 'Who fucking cares about our family?'"
Michael Bay's Ode To Meatheads: Pain & Gain, Reviewed.
There are many movies that could have been made from the raw materials of Pain & Gain, which is based on a series of outrageous Miami New Times articles about three dimwit Florida bodybuilders who in 1994 kidnapped a rich local businessman and stripped him of all his assets. Some filmmakers, for example, might have…
If Only History Went Down This Smoothly. 42, Reviewed.
People go to inspirational sports movies not in spite of their predictability but because of it. Other than romantic comedies, there's no other genre so dependent on the fact that you know exactly how they're going to play out. It doesn't help that they're usually based on true stories. These movies–Remember the…
You'll Remember This Psychopath: Brady Corbet's Star-Making Turn In…
When we first meet Simon, he's not unlike a lot of twentysomething guys you knew after college. Recently graduated, cash-strapped, withdrawn and sorta lost, the lead of Simon Killer finds himself crashing in Paris at a family friend's place, wanting to escape New York and the girlfriend, Michelle, who dumped him after…
Big Sunshine fan. I didn't even mind the ending.
For director Danny Boyle, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. With each genre of movie he makes, you get the sense that he wants to be sure it's the most demonstrative of its kind ever. Trainspotting was the druggiest movie ever. 28 Days Later was the zombie-iest movie ever. Slumdog Millionaire was the most exotic and romantic and melodramatic movie ever. (Not really, but you know what I mean.) Kinetic and vivid, Boyle's films are a visual delight and an emotional pummeling. With Trance, he's gone ahead and made the trippiest of trippy head-game thrillers in recent memory.
An Epic That Stumbles. The Place Beyond The Pines, Reviewed.
Director Derek Cianfrance's last film, Blue Valentine, was a crushing study of a couple (played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams) falling apart. It was beautifully made and well acted—I loved it—but the rawness of the emotions and the ambition of the structure (cycling between the present and the past, as we see…
