February 2011

February 2011

The Lair of the White Worm (Russell, 1988)||||||5.5
Autumn Sonata (Bergman, 1978)||||||8
True Grit (Coen Brothers, 2010)||||||7
This movie drags its feet a lot, with a middle section that seems grossly lackadaisical for the Coens, but it gains its footing again for a rousing - but also unusual - final twenty or so minutes. I also think it has more on its modernist plate than given credit for, as the revelation of the Josh Brolin character and that whirlwind, elegiac final night ride that leaves an ever-growing series of dead or tired out bodies behind it (never again seen in the film) are prime bits of Western deconstruction. Also thought the epilogue was of an exquisite wryness and absolutely integral to the film's gentle poignancy.
127 Hours (Boyle, 2010)||||||6
Has virtues similar to Sean Penn's Into the Wild, but this would be Into the Wild but dumber.
Buried (Cortes, 2010)||||||6
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Akerman, 1975)||||||8
Greenberg (Baumbach, 2010)||||||6.5
Nick's Flick Picks on GREENBERG
Event Horizon (Anderson, 1997)||||||3.5
Vincere (Bellocchio, 2009)||||||7.5
Wild Grass (Resnais, 2009)||||||8
Hairspray (Waters, 1988)||||||7
A Prophet (Audiard, 2009)||||||7.5
Enter the Void (Noé, 2010)||||||5