Michael Mann transports us back to a time when the myths that would come to define America could still be found walking amongst the people, chomping on cigars and cracking wise. I've seen plenty of movies depicting the 1930s but none that manage to make you feel like you're there the way 'Public Enemies' does. The use of handheld, digital cameras creates a remarkably immersive sense of presence and motion.
The juxtaposition of outlaw Dillinger to lawman Purvis makes for…
This was sold to me as "the most accurate depiction of the labor movement ever put to screen" and damn if that isn't on the money. 'Matewan' faithfully presents the charm and insularity of rural America—there's nothing quite like coexisting amongst people who've been at your side for as long as you can recall. It's easy to see how the fires of revolution could be stoked in circumstances of such unity, unity that feels hard to come by these days.…
This was dumb as hell! Despite a story that hints at demonic mischief, there's no depth at all to their portrayal of occult phenomenon. 'Frailty' is so lacking in horror or grounding in mythology, it all feels terribly artificial and halfhearted. Even the talents of McConaughey and Boothe do little to salvage this, their performances are forgettable. It's a shame Bill Paxton's directorial debut was wasted here. It all feels more like a bad X-Files episode than a feature film.…
An idiosyncratic urban vampire story that uses genre conventions to comment on social issues and life in 20th century America, 'Martin' is more or less my first Romero movie. I'm not big on zombies so I've never felt drawn to his body of work but after seeing this I'm going to have to correct that. There's a real natural ease to the portrayals of character and setting, Romero always able to extract the maximum entertainment value from a given situation.…
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