Lessons of Darkness

Long Time Coming

It's been more than two months since I've updated this blog, largely because of a workload that's negated most of my free time. Nonetheless, here's a link update covering January, February and the beginning of March.

The Village Voice:
Battle: Los Angeles (Village Voice)
Mars Needs Moms (Village Voice)
Beastly (Village Voice)
Rango (Village Voice)
Foreign Parts (Village Voice)
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (Village Voice)
I Am Number Four (Village Voice)
Unknown (Village Voice)
Even the Rain (Village Voice)
Carancho (Village Voice)
Ip Man 2 (Village Voice)
New York Jewish Film Festival: Twentysomething, Smart, and Available (Village Voice)

Slant magazine:
Elektra Luxx (Slant magazine)
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Slant magazine)
Potiche (Slant magazine)
I Saw the Devil (Slant magazine)
Klaus Kinski: Jesus Christ the Savior (Slant magazine)
The Chaperone (Slant magazine)
Black Death (Slant magazine)
Just Go with It (Slant magazine)
Kill the Irishman (Slant magazine)
The Roommate (Slant magazine)
Killzone 3 (Slant magazine)
Waiting for Forever (Slant magazine)
The Mechanic (Slant magazine)
In a Better World (Slant magazine)
Vanishing on 7th Street (Slant magazine)
Uncle Kent (Slant magazine)
Season of the Witch (Slant magazine)

Time Out New York:
The Last Lions (Time Out New York)
Gnomeo & Juliet (Time Out New York)
No Strings Attached (Time Out New York)
Dhobi Ghat (Time Out New York)

IFC News: 
The 50 Greatest Opening Title Sequences of All Time (IFC News) (10 capsules by me)

Fandor:
Oscar Report Card: Best Actor (Fandor)

New Month, New Links

After a month spent attending the New York Film Festival (some of whose films have been reviewed on this blog; see below), I'm back with a new collection of links. In fact, an absolutely INSANE amount of links. So kick back, relax, and enjoy.

Out Now (Slant magazine):
Jackass 3D (Slant magazine)
Red (Slant magazine)
It's Kind of a Funny Story (Slant magazine)
Douchebag (Slant magazine)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Slant magazine)
Easy A (Slant magazine)
GhettoPhysics (Slant magazine)

Out Now (Village Voice):
Stone (Village Voice)
Secretariat (Village Voice)
IP Man (Village Voice)
S&Man (Village Voice)
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (Village Voice)
Strapped (Village Voice)
Last Day of Summer (Village Voice)
Music Makes a City (Village Voice)

Out Now (Time Out New York)
Ahead of Time (Time Out New York)
Picture Me (Time Out New York)
Alpha and Omega (Time Out New York)
Budrus (Time Out New York)
Letters to Father Jacob (Time Out New York)
Case 39 (Time Out New York)
Nora's Will (Time Out New York)

New York Film Festival:
The Social Network (Slant magazine)
Hereafter (Slant magazine)
Carlos (Slant magazine)
Tuesday, After Christmas (Slant magazine)
Meek's Cutoff (Slant magazine)
Post Mortem (Slant magazine)
Oki's Movie (Slant magazine)
The Strange Case of Angelica (The L Magazine)
Hunger Pains in Jorge Michel Grau's "We Are What We Are" (Village Voice)

Coming Soon:
Knucklehead (Slant magazine)

Interview:
Gaspar Noé's Trip Into the "Void" (IFC News)

Video Games:
Medal of Honor (Slant magazine)
Halo: Reach (Slant magazine)
Mafia II (Slant magazine)

Mann Up

For this Monday morning, I've got four new reviews of recent releases. Two are positive, two are negative, and no, it won't be hard to guess which are which.

Out Now:
Grown Ups (Slant magazine)
Jonah Hex (Slant magazine)
I Was Born, But... (The Village Voice)
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Paste magazine)

Also, here's a lengthy feature I did for The L Magazine on Film Forum's retrospective of the great American director Anthony Mann, which runs from June 25 - July 15.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Anthony Mann (The L Magazine)

Quick Hits

Before posting some new reviews, here are links to a few recent pieces, including my write-up of the annual Human Rights Watch Festival, for The Village Voice.

Coming Soon:
Cyrus (Slant magazine)

Out Now:
Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (The Village Voice)

Giving Voice to the Cause, the Rallying Cry of Human Rights Watch (The Village Voice)

Remember Me?

This blog hasn't been updated in weeks due to an influx of work from various places, much of which can be found via the links below. Hopefully, more content will on the way shortly, including my thoughts on Michael Winterbottom's The Killer Inside Me and some retro-reviews of Minority Report and Army of Darkness.

Out Now:
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (The Village Voice)
Shrek Forever After (Slant magazine)
Micmacs (Slant magazine)
Agora (Time Out New York)
Kites (Time Out New York)
The Living Wake (The Village Voice)
After the Cup (The Village Voice)
Letters to Juliet (Slant magazine)
Just Wright (Slant magazine)
Holy Rollers (Slant magazine)
TiMER (Slant magazine)
OSS 117: Lost in Rio (Paste magazine)

Coming Soon:
Get Him to the Greek (Slant magazine)
Finding Bliss (Time Out New York)
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders (Slant magazine)

Games:
Red Dead Redemption (The House Next Door)
Alan Wake (The House Next Door)

PLUS, an interview with Micmacs director Jean-Pierre Jeunet:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Builds a Better Mousetrap (IFC News)

Kick Me

A new collection of links for this beautiful Thursday morning in CT, including my thoughts on last week's #1 film, Kick-Ass, as well as my first feature for The L Magazine, on George Romero.

George Romero Versus Humanity (The L Magazine)

Out Now:
Kick-Ass (Slant magazine)
Death at a Funeral (Time Out New York)
Exit Through the Gift Shop (Slant magazine)
Don McKay (Time Out New York)
The Joneses (Slant magazine)
The Perfect Game (Slant magazine)

Out Tomorrow:
Boogie Woogie (Slant magazine)
Paper Man (Slant magazine)

Weeks and Weeks

Despite posting quite a few reviews here in recent weeks, I've neglected to deliver a new link collection - until now, that is. Thus, here are a few reviews, as well as an IFC News feature I contributed to. As always, enjoy.

Now Playing:
Date Night (Slant magazine)
The Square (Slant magazine)
After.Life (Slant magazine)
The Last Song (Slant magazine)
The Warlords (Slant magazine)

Coming Soon:
Leaves of Grass (Slant magazine)

New Directors/New Films:
Bill Cunningham New York (Slant magazine)

Feature:
13 On-Screen Couples That Were Also Off-Screen Couples (IFC News)

(Bio)Shocking!

I'm actually updating this blog in a somewhat timely manner! Amazing, truly. Herewith, my latest reviews, as well as my new Sandbox column about the superb Bioshock 2.

The Sandbox: Morality Shock (IFC News)

Out Now:
A Prophet (Slant magazine)
Cop Out (Slant magazine)
Happy Tears (Slant magazine)

Film Comment Selects 2010: 
Morphia (The House Next Door)
Air Doll (The House Next Door)
Tales from the Golden Age (The House Next Door)
Like You Know It All (The House Next Door)

Off to See the Mickey

I've been lax in updating this ol' blog, as a ton of work - as well as celebrating the Saints' first Super Bowl victory (WHOO HOO!) - has kept me away from posting. As a result, there's a lot here. And that's especially good because it'll be a while longer until I post again, since I'm now off to the Orlando-based House of Mouse for some kiddie fun in the sun.

The Sandbox: The Dialogue Wheel Effect (IFC News)
The Sandbox: Two Mediums, One Earth (IFC News)

Slant's Best of the Aughts: Film (Slant magazine)



Out Now:
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Slant magazine)
The Vicious Kind (Time Out New York)
Videocracy (Slant magazine)
District 13: Ultimatum (Slant magazine)
Creation (Slant magazine)
44 Inch Chest (Slant magazine)
Saint John of Las Vegas (Slant magazine)
Legion (Slant magazine)
When in Rome (Slant magazine)

January Quiet

There's very little going on in the film world right now save for Avatar's continued box-office dominance. As a result, this latest update is pretty light, as I expect the next couple to be as well.

The Sandbox: Highlights from the DIY Gaming Frontier (IFC News)

Out Now:
The Book of Eli (Slant magazine)
The Spy Next Door (Slant magazine)