Margin Call is a night in the life of a group of poor schmucks who work at multi-billion dollar investment firm. Set in the early stages of the 2008 crisis, the film revolves around the events following the discovery of an error in a predictive algorithm (or whatever) the company has been using to package stocks to trade as a single entity (or something). We enter the film on a downsizing day, … [Read more...]
The problem we are finding ourselves faced with, as audiences, with the rash of comic-book titles now swarming around theaters, is that they are absolutely committed to the idea that they should "start." The origin story was pretty clearly the right way to go when we started having comic-book titles (Superman, etc.), and when they are done brilliantly (Batman Begins), they make for great films. … [Read more...]
Even a mild John Hughes reference can send your teen angst movie into a tailspin of expectation failure, and Easy A doesn't merely nod at the legendary writer/director, but provides a video montage and dares to include the line, "My life isn't a John Hughes movie." That's treading dangerous ground, but the film pulls it off, largely by way of being smart enough to know exactly what it is, and … [Read more...]
I recall an argument I once had with a friend about the film adaptation of a book we both loved, but which consisted of the protagonist thinking to himself for something like 80% of the total work. That it could be done was not really the issue. It certainly could, though it might make for an odd experience. No, the question was really should it be done. I haven't read The Lovely Bones, but it … [Read more...]
When I prepare to write a movie review, one of the first things I do is point my browser at IMDb.com. When I went to the site and looked up Big Night, the user comment that showed up was eerily similar to a general 'angle' I was considering working. So strange was this event to me, that I am going to share the relevant portion with you. The following comes (as I said) from the main page … [Read more...]
