Last week, we discussed the first film in Abbas Kiarostami’s “Earthquake Trilogy,” Where Is the Friend’sHome? With the second picture, And Life Goes On… (screens Thursday, May 8, at the Dryden), it becomes clear early on that when Kiarostami conceived Home?, it wasn’t with a trilogy in mind. Set prior to the 1990 earthquake […]
Jon Popick
Posted inNews & Opinion
The evolution of soccer
It’s been 221 days and I have finally come to terms with it. But when I close my eyes, I can still see the ball sailing higher and higher as it floats above the upright toward the scoreboard. In my mind it plays out in slow motion, even though the actual incident took only a […]
Posted inMovies
Mutants unite against military, government
For once, the trailers don’t lie. X2: X-Men United is a really good sequel — better than the first, actually, and maybe even in the same company as Spider-Man (both are based on comic books, hence the comparison). The action sequences are some of the finest I’ve seen, and you couldn’t ask for much more […]
Posted inMovies
Jordan’s mediocre Thief
The teaming of Neil Jordan and Nick Nolte is an interesting one, considering the director only seems capable of making a good film every other time out (his most recent was The End of the Affair), while the actor has been able to successfully carry a film approximately once over the last 10 years (Affliction). […]
Posted inMovies
Cranking out pseudo-stylish junk
Cranking out pseudo-stylish junk There’s something rather admirable about Spun‘s casting strategy, which seemed to involve finding as many irritating actors as possible and having all of their characters strung out on crank. It’s a bold and brazen approach — kind of like if somebody told you they could toss a dime from the top […]
Posted inMovies
A Canyon of despair and boredom
Playing like a feature-film continuation of Family Ties, Lisa Cholodenko’s Laurel Canyon (opens Friday, April 11, at the Little) pits a free-spirited mother against her uptight, conservative, and — yes — perpetually embarrassed 21st century version of Alex P. Keaton. Because the mom, and the film itself, is all about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ […]
Posted inMovies
Let’s move to Cleveland
It’s probably just a coincidence that bombs started falling over Baghdad about 10 minutes after I checked into my hotel in Cleveland, where I was to cover their 27th annual International Film Festival. But there seems to be some unfortunate connection between me leaving town to watch movies and the occurrence of a horrible international […]
Posted inMovies
Sex, drugs, and… well, more sex
Go on, admit it. When you see the title The Crime of Father Amaro (opens Friday, March 28, at the Little), you automatically assume it’s a film about a priest buggering young boys, don’t you? Well, it’s not. We first see the recently ordained Father Amaro (Gael García Bernal) as he rides a bus […]
Posted inMovies
A fine line between tedium and entertainment
The last time Gus Van Sant directed a Damon-Affleck script, the film (Good Will Hunting) hit Oscar gold. The Gusmeister is back behind the camera for another Damon-Affleck project, but the odds of Gerry (opens Friday, March 21, at the Little) finding the same kind of success seem robustly unlikely. Gerry is a very different […]
Posted inMovies
Snuffing and huffing
Snuffing and huffing Rocket contemplates his ticket out of the ‘hood in “City of God.” People familiar with the work of Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles, who crafted the offbeat comedy Maids, might be floored by his latest big-screen effort. City of God is every bit as violent as Narc, just as gritty as Amores Perros, […]
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A neat look at inheriting a mess
Jesse Peretz’s follow-up to the painfully mediocre but wonderfully soundtracked First Love, Last Rites sounds like something George Costanza and his buddy Jerry might pitch to NBC after frantically coming up with the idea during the ride to 30 Rock. While nobody is court-ordered to become somebody else’s butler, The Château (which screens Saturday, March […]
Posted inMovies
Jagger and a dagger
How far would you go to keep a roof over your family’s head and food on their plates? Would you sell a kidney? Would you work at McDonald’s? How about taking experimental medication, or having sex for money? Some of us might resort to extreme measures (just admit it already, Scott Peterson), but not Byron […]
