Drama, Movies

Angels and Demons

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The opening scene at the CERN physics laboratory where an experiment to create anti-matter (The God particle) takes place is visually stunning. Rome and its Catholic rituals provide a beautiful backdrop for the film. The next two hours, however, are a wild car chase through Rome that I found pretty annoying after a while. The image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

The Reader

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The slim book on which the film is based is a wonderful read. Knowing the book makes the film much less exciting. The first hour feels very slow, particularly because book felt brisk. In the second hour the drama receives a jumpstart and you forget that you are sitting on perhaps a not so comfortable image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Slumdog Millionaire

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Last time I looked, India had the second largest film industry in the world. Yet very seldom a Bollywood movie reaches the eyes of a western audience. The genius behind Slumdog Millionaire is to make Western filmmakers translate a Indian based-story into a western film format. In the process, a magnificent film has arrived on image [Read More]
Documentary, Movies

Tarnation

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In my junior or senior year I formulated this motto:  I want to turn my life into a work of art.  What I had in mind was something like this: Rather than turning out work that could be construed as art I wanted to make sure that my life as a whole was esthetically compelling. image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Doubt

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A psychologically pleasing story offers you some resolution at the end. John Patrick Shanley, the writer and director of Doubt, denies you this pleasure. He errs on the side of wanting to teach you too much. He wants you to be in doubt at the end of the film and this means never revealing what image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

The Edge of Heaven

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The German title of the film (Auf der anderen Seite) means something like “on the other side”. Fatih Akin, the German writer and director of Turkish background has wonderful material to work with (growing up with Turkish parents in Germany) but lacks the skill to shape the material into a first-class film. He comes across image [Read More]
Movies, Phantasy

Twilight

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Most people I know woke up to the full powers of the flesh sometimes in their second decade. Some experience this discovery as ‘no big deal;’ others are thrown off balance.  Trying to explore this new territory with some success often proves dauntingly difficult. Many films have been made about teenage romance.  A few of image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Good Night, and Good Luck

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At the Oscars award show not long after Good Night, and Good Luck came out in 2005, the host made a joke about the long-term bachelor George Clooney who directed and starred in the film.  It went something like this: This low budget film, shot almost entirely in the room where the news program was image [Read More]