Here’s my video review of “Never Let Me Go”from KTKA-49. Based on the award-winning novel of the same name, “Never Let Me Go” is a sci-fi film with almost none of the outward trappings – no spaceships, lasers, or any of that. Instead of a futuristic setting, it takes place in a recent sort of […]
Well Fantastic Fest 2010 is now over. I saw about 30 movies, but there were quite a few I didn’t manage to see including many of the award winners. The more in-depth daily wrap ups and some more full length reviews are being worked on now, so keep watching Scene-Stealers for more articles on Fantastic […]
Here’s my video review of David Fincher‘s “The Social Network” from KTKA-49. Last week I blasted Oliver Stone’s formulaic “Wall Street” sequel for being set in the present but somehow feeling totally and completely irrelevant. The same can’t be said of the movie that most everybody will simplify by calling it “The Facebook Movie.” “The […]
The word “bunraku” refers to form of Japanese puppet theater where the puppeteers, usually dressed in black, are visible on stage. “Bunraku” the film combines elements of classic samurai and cowboy films and sets it in a gunless future that feels more like an alternate past. The aesthetic feels both unique and familiar. While it […]
The slasher film ruled the horror genre from the release of “Halloween” in 1978 until Jason was sent to Hell in 1993. It had a brief resurgence, though, with the self-aware “Scream” trilogy and the films that followed in its wake. But true 80s-style horror has been the exception, rather than the rule. Enter writer/director […]
Fantastic Fest 2010 has started and George Hickman is covering it for Scene-Stealers. His reviews of all the movies he can cram into one week will be published here until the genre-oriented film festival is over and his bloody fingers can type no more. “14 Blades” – Minor Rock Fist Up Fantastic Fest has begun […]
Where the spooky Swedish film “Let the Right One In” was set (like John Ajvide Lindqvist‘s novel) in an economically depressed apartment complex in early-80s Stockholm, the American remake “Let Me In” paints a similarly bleak picture, taking place in dreary suburban Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1983. Writer/director Matt Reeves (“Cloverfield”) goes further with […]
One of the reasons that “Catfish” succeeds so well as a “reality thriller” is that it abandons the typical documentary style for a first-person as-it-happens feel that’s actually closer to a fictional film.
Here’s my video review of Ben Affleck‘s “The Town” from KTKA-49. Like his directorial debut “Gone Baby Gone” from three years ago, Ben Affleck’s newest movie “The Town” is a crime drama set in his hometown of Boston. More specifically, the Charlestown neighborhood—which has more bank robberies per capita than any other place in the […]
With the release of “I’m Still Here,” the mockumentary has officially come full circle. Actors have already played roles in documentary-style comedies (“This is Spinal Tap,” “Best in Show”), they’ve combined that format with real-life pranks (“Borat,” “Bruno”), and they’ve played fictional versions of themselves for laughs (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Extras”). This time the performance […]
I must confess that when I first saw the trailer for “Easy A,” the literature nerd in me was thrilled. A teen comedy that takes on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter”? So down. I didn’t expect much of the movie—by which I mean I went in with no expectations of greatness—and while I don’t think […]
Here is Eric’s KTKA-49 review of “The American” starring George Clooney. His print review of the movie is right here: Movie Review: The American
Make no mistake: Just because Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete” revolves around timely issues like anti-immigrant xenophobia and Hispanic stereotyping doesn’t mean he gives them the respect and critical treatment they deserve. Instead, he does what any low-budget genre filmmaker worth his salt-covered wound did in the 1970s: He exploits the hell out them. “Machete” is the […]
Romantic comedies are far from my favorite genre. The cream of the crop are passable at best, and for the rest, well, just take a look at Kate Hudson’s filmography sometime. Perhaps it’s because the bar is set so low that Going the Distance finds a way to be a halfway decent, and at times […]
I love heist flicks and I’m usually willing to cut them an awful lot of slack. On my DVD shelf alongside of “Heist,” “To Catch a Thief“, and “Sneakers,” I own copies of “The Newton Boys,” “How to Beat the High Co$t of Living” and “After the Sunset“. When a new heist flick comes along […]