|
As this Korean drama written and directed by Ki-duk Kim opens, a young man on a motorbike is making the rounds of a quiet neighborhood, hanging menus on doorknobs for the local takeout place. What could be more humdrum? But as it turns out, the young man is actually an odd and rather mysterious drifter working an ingenious sort of scam. When a troubled woman catches him in his routine, it would seem that the jig is up, but to our surprise she seems almost as strange as he is, and a unique partnership begins. If you can imagine a Zen Buddhist Bonnie and Clyde, it might look a little something like this quiet film. At the same time it's a kind of ghost story, and its style is so inventive that it makes cinema feel new again. And, yes, the title does refer to a golf club. | |
|
Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this brilliant 1938 screwball comedy that reaches an outlandish level of nonsense without ever losing its charm. Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a brainy paleontologist steadily working to complete a dinosaur skeleton but in need of additional funding for the project which he is attempting to secure from a rich heiress. In walks Susan Vance (Hepburn), her niece, to spoil his plans at every juncture. Huxley is incapable of ridding himself of the screwy, accident-prone Susan and soon finds himself on a frenzied chase to recover an invaluable dinosaur bone that her dog, George, has taken. If that weren't enough, they have a leopard called Baby in tow. Some of the finest physical comedy is on display here, and the movie moves at breakneck speed with Hepburn and Grant captivating us every bit of the way. If you are willing to suspend your disbelief for a while and indulge in the hilarity and delicious ridiculousness this classic Howard Hawks film has to offer, you won't be disappointed. | |
|
Lajos Kotai's first film, adapted from Imre Kertez's semiautobiographical novel, concerns the harrowing experience of Gyrua (Macell Nagy), a 14-year old Hungarian boy, as he is transported to a series of concentration camps. First his father is taken to a work camp, and Gyrua is soon detained with a group of other adolescent boys and sent to a camp as well. This unsentimental look at the Holocaust is affecting. Macell's performance displays a subtle and gentle brilliance, with his facial expressions telling much of his story. What the movie lacks in narrative (it is more akin to a sequence of sketches), it makes up with the beautiful cinematography. Not surprisingly, Kotai is a critically acclaimed cinematographer. The film is visually stunning; each frame is artfully constructed. This Academy Award nominee is definitely worth seeing. | |
|
Persuasion |
Film adaptations of Jane Austen are not hard to find, but few are as emotionally resonant and beautifully acted as the film of one of her lesser known books, Persuasion. Eight years ago, Anne Elliot was convinced by her friends and family to reject the marriage proposal of a handsome but poor naval officer. In the intervening years, Anne has become a quiet kind of drudge to her father and sister, both of whom have overbearing personalities that the quiet, commonsensical Anne cannot hope to overcome. Anne's father's extravagant spending soon forces them to rent out their family home and move to a smaller house. Their tenant is a retired navy admiral whose brother-in-law is the very Captain Wentworth who Anne rejected so many years ago but never stopped thinking about. The nuance and expressively suppressed emotion that both Amanda Root as Anne and Ciarin Hinds as Wentworth bring to their roles will keep audiences rooting for the pair as they overcome misunderstandings and misgivings on their road back to each other. |
|
Joseph Gordon Leavitt stars as Chris Pratt, a former high school hockey star whose life is dramatically changed after a car accident leaves him with severe brain damage, affecting his memory and even his ability to conduct basic tasks. He lives with a blind man named Lewis (Jeff Daniels) and works nights as a janitor for a local bank, managing to have some semblance of an independent, normal life. At times Chris seems frustrated with the hand he's been dealt, and it's at one of these vulnerable moments that he meets the charming, smooth talking Gary (Matthew Goode). Unbeknownst to Chris, Gary's had his eye on him. He lures Chris into his circle of friends with the help of the beautiful Luvlee (Isla Fisher), and it's not until Chris finds himself in the midst of planning a heist that he realizes he's in trouble. This film is unbelievably tense. Gordon-Levitt has become the "it" name in indie films and deservedly so, giving an understated and effective performance. Matthew Goode is an excellent bad guy. You'll be in knots wondering what he'll do from the moment he walks on the screen. This small film flew under the radar last year, but it is one you won't soon forget. |