Cinefile

Going The Distance

In Theaters
Aug 30, 2010

Moviegoers are accustomed to treating the month of August with little more than a shrug. You see, August is caught in that cinematic purgatory between the summer box office fluff and the Oscar fare of the fall season.  This is why we have forgettable movies like The Expendables or the incredulous re-release of Avatar wedged into August. Nanette Burstein’s Going The Distance is the rare case of a late summer release that both entertains and doesn’t completely dumb down your sentiments. A real sleeper hit if there ever could be one this time of the year.

Drew Barrymore ...

Centurion

In Theaters
Aug 25, 2010

Neil Marshall’s Centurion is a bloody and brutal cinematic retaliation against the green screen finesse of Zack Snyder’s popular sword n’ sandals epic 300. Marshall, who made the impressive, claustrophobic thriller The Descent just a few years ago, trades in the CGI landscapes of 300 for the tough and cold terrains of its unforgiving European wilderness; the result is a movie that looks very distinct and sometimes feels very exciting. However, when it’s not sweeping us with its magnificent vistas or its visceral combat sections, it falls into the similar trappings of other mediocre historical epics: hokey ...

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

In Theaters
Aug 16, 2010

Hands down, director Edgar Wright is one of the ultimate synthesizers of pop culture and all of it's gooey, self-deprecating eccentricity. One need only look at the plethora of references contained within the breadth of his output. From Resident Evil 2 and Star Wars jokes in the cult TV series Spaced, to his jukebox of music nostalgia in Shaun of the Dead, to an unhealthy courtship with blockbuster action flicks in Hot Fuzz - Wright rolls out exaggerated parodies and jibes, tempering such squeals of geekdom with sharp editing, a goofy/smart-ass sensibility and breezy but always idiosyncratic characters.

It ...

Dinner For Schmucks

In Theaters
Jul 29, 2010

Ron Livingston (Office Space) and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) need to star in a good comedy together. Livingston is a sort of jaded John Cusack, an “everyman” who has an infectious, deadpan insight into whatever shit situation he lands in. Galifianakis, on the other hand, is a sort of juvenile John Belushi, if you can imagine such a thing. He has the size and brutish swagger that’s key to Belushi’s screen presence but is restrained by his own wide-eyed, childlike fascination with everything he comes in contact with. The fact that I pondered the traits of these comedic ...

Countdown To Zero

In Theaters
Jul 28, 2010

Boom! Everything and everyone is gone in an instant. That’s the unnerving realization that settles in your mind when you consider the phrase “nuclear explosion.” Lucy Walker’s Countdown To Zero is a polished, impressively edited petition that asks its viewers to sit up, take notice, get worried and then text ZERO to 77177. It’s less of a flooring documentary and more of a studied recap of how dangerously close we are to having a huge mess on our hands. But the fact that the doc is clear in its voice, assured in its direction and sympathetic toward ...

Inception

In Theaters
Jul 17, 2010

In a summer full of droll remakes, sequels, spin-offs and pasty teen vampires, Christopher Nolan’s Inception bursts onto the scene with an urgent and slick force. Here is a gapingly imperfect film that still manages to dazzle us with its visuals and remind us that the Hollywood summer movie machine may still have a few tricks up its sleeve. With that said, in order to understand the palpable mixed bag of goods that is Inception, it’s crucial to look closely at what flies and what doesn’t. First, what works; as the film’s protagonist Cobb, Leonardo DiCaprio ...