While the rest of the country struggles through the deep freeze of winter, Los Angeles basks in the growing heat of “red carpet” season, the time of year when a handful of quality films receive the kind of attention that puts them on an even footing with the otherwise dominant blockbusters.
Category: Santa Monica Reporter
Santa Monica Reporter, the entertainment blog for Newslanc.com
“Blue Jasmine” in the rear view mirror
Let’s not spend too much time or energy trying to rank Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” in the context of his many other career high points. Regardless of how it’ll be seen in the future, the movie is one of the very few satisfying dramas of 2013. It may be a light drama, and it may borrow from Tennessee William’s “Streetcar Named Desire,” but it stakes out its own territory and has been rewarded by critics and audiences with a long theatrical run.
The Spectacular Now indie, and You’re Next
When we first meet Sutter Keely, a likeable 18 yr. old drifting through his final year of high school, he’s just come off a bad break up with one the prettiest girls in his class. After a night of drinking, he wakes up on the lawn of an attractive but withdrawn classmate he’s never met.
Travels through Brooklyn, and across the Pacific
When we first meet Francis Halladay, she’s telling a boyfriend that she can’t live with him because she’s committed to her current roommate, a close friend and classmate from Vassar. But in the next scene, the roommate, Sofie, announces that she’s relocating to a better neighborhood in Manhattan and that Frances will have to find someone else to pick up the rent.
An exchange about truth with the Santa Monica Reporter
Dan: What would happen if an old man and an old women in Central Park escape a rain shower by going into one of the small restaurants and agree to share the one remaining table. They strike a deal, since they never saw each other before and would never see each other again. They decide […]
“Mud”; the most entertaining movie this spring.
Right from the start, we know that a mysterious loner named “Mud” will mean trouble for two adolescent boys in Jeff Nichols’ finely crafted drama about growing up in Arkansas’ river country. And when we see the way Mud holsters his pistol– lodged in his belt, behind his back—we know that sooner or later the jeopardy will go beyond the usual issues in coming of age dramas.
A “Playlist,” Fracking, and “Le Miz”
Two good ones, one not so good, for the holidays. I count only two interesting comedies on my list of memorable films from 2012; “Moonrise Kingdom,” released this summer and now on video, and “Silver Linings Playbook,” which has just gone into national release, and will probably remain in theaters through the awards season. See it!
“Argo,” “Seven Psychopaths,” and more on “The Master”
Already successful beyond industry expectations, “Argo” is more evidence that adults will fill theaters when something they relate to comes their way. Few in the business predicted that a movie with an inexplicable title, that recounted a true life rescue from forty years ago…
Fall movie reviews
The fall harvest of stylish, English language features has begun with two releases that have found nearly universal favor with the mainstream media. But the elements that distinguish both “The Master” and “Looper” are willful idiosyncrasies that are more likely to win them cult status than year end awards.
Three movies to see
Those who have longed for Wes Anderson to revisit the comic landscape of “Rushmore,” will be tickled by his latest, “Moonrise Kingdom.” An inspired comedy about two twelve year olds on the run, it provides solid rolls for a large cast that include Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Frances McDormand, and others. It’s funny where it could have been sad, and wise where it could have been smug.
Santa Monica reporter comments on Academy Awards
I thought the show was one of the best in many years, if not the best. The movies, as I wrote, were good, but not great. I think “The Artist” is fun, but amounts to little There were a lot of good documentaries showcased that will go on to do well in video and TV. […]
Oscar Hangover: Part 2
Last time I talked about Oscar qualifiers I admired, but with reservations. The following are those I admired with few if any qualifications. My Week with Marilyn. On its surface this slice of movie lore, probably as much fiction as fact, appears no more substantial than an after dinner mint. But I found it more amusing and thoughtful than the far weightier prestige films of the year.
The best of 2011: a hangover
I wasn’t motivated to make a ten best list for 2011. After looking over a survey of world critics in “Sight And Sound,” (the journal of the British Film Institute,) I was even less inclined. The overwhelming majority chose “Tree of Life” as their best or second best. And then the much appreciated “A Separation,” which wasn’t playing in this country at the time…
HOLIDAY DISAPPOINTMENTS: “Holmes,” “Hugo,” and “Young Adult”
Any resemblance between “Game of Shadows,” Robert Downey, Jr.’s latest turn as Sherlock Holmes, and the first installment, from two years ago, is purely coincidental. Where the first was witty and fleet footed, this one is dull and flat footed. It’s an extravagantly expensive mess, sure to bore the same audience that was delighted by its antecedent.