I had a good feeling about this one. The man responsible for “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Fountain,” director Darren Aronofsky, has just won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion Award for his newest movie, “The Wrestler.” It was also just picked up by Fox Searchlight for distribution.
Although a technicality keeps the lead actor in a Golden Lion-winning film from also winning Best Actor, there were universal raves for Mickey Rourke’s performance as a wrestler looking for a comeback. Can’t wait for this one, although I would say his role in “Sin City” was a comeback - one that should have gotten him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod. I voted for him anyway, in the KC Film Critic’s Circle Awards that year, and I remember he just barely lost out to Paul Giamatti for “Cinderella Man,” which, as much as I love Giamatti, is pretty lame. I think everyone else just felt guilty for not giving him props for “American Splendor” and “Sideways.”
Did I mention Aronofsky is doing a new “Robocop” movie? Only about a million times…
All this talk reminds me of something: Awards season has officially begun and its time for me to cram a year’s worth of good films (and usually some studio misfires that aimed for that pre-approved “stamp of quality” like “Cinderella Man” did) in four months. Joel and Ethan Coen, whose “Burn After Reading” opens tomorrow, have a new project that started filming Monday in their home state of Minnesota with longtime cinematographer (and seven-time Oscar nominee) Roger Deakins.
“A Serious Man” stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Fred Melamed, Richard Kind, and Minnesota actors Aaron Wolf, Sari Wagner, and Jessica McManus. Ever heard of any of them? That’s quite a ways from Pitt, Clooney, Malkovich, McDormand, and Swinton. It’s about a a physics professor at a quiet midwestern university whose wife leaves him and a lot of other bad things happen to him as well. I love the fact that these guys refuse to do the same thing twice.
Tags: aronofsky's the wrestler, coen brothers, fox searchlight, golden lion, mickey rourke, venice
The Blind Side
Sandra Bullock stars in this true-story tearjerker about an underpriveleged black kid who goes to live with an upper-class white family and eventually play pro football. You know what to expect.
Planet 51
It’s nothing new, but Alan says this first-time animated outing from Ilion Animated Studios is good-natured and has a fun premise.
2012
Director Roland Emmerich’s latest disaster porn film is worse than a failed character drama; it’s an overly long, boring, and contradictory action film. Shame on John Cusack.
Pirate Radio
This British import starring Philip Seymour Hoffman skirts with cliche but has just enough heart and humor to stay afloat, says Phil.
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Grant Heslov’s adaptation of the nonfiction book has a loopy enough tone, but it’s all over the place and feels more like a series of gags than a cohesive movie.
The Fourth Kind
This alien abduction suspense movie shouldn’t have included “documentary” footage that feels forced and fake if it wanted to feel real, says Phil.
Disney's A Christmas Carol
Phil says that Robert Zemeckis should have focused his attention more on a little Christmas spirit and less on bombastic chase sequences in this Charles Dickens adaptation.
A Serious Man
Alan says the Coen brothers’ latest is a well-made an intriguing intellectual exercise that Coen fans shouldn’t miss out on.
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Alan says this lighthearted vampire movie with John C. Reilly doesn’t make any sense, but is a helluva lot of fun.
Amelia
Hilary Swank plays Ameila Earhart in this beautifully shot but emotionally inert biopic, says Phil.
