It’s tempting to lump Ian Fitzgibbon’s “A Film with Me in It” in with a comically Grand Guignol-thriller like “Shallow Grave.” Or the plays (and film) of Martin McDonagh.

But it would be wrong. For, while there is violence galore in “A Film With Me in It,” the lion’s share is accidental. No, really – they were accidents. (More…)

Let’s keep this short and simple:

Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” is a pointless, bloodless cinematic construct that seems obsessed with man’s capacity for cruelty – like almost all of his films. (More…)

I’ve been a Terry Gilliam fan for a long time. Though I don’t think his films always work, I admire his imagination and vision – and his willingness to persevere in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Gilliam, as legendary for his run of bad luck as a filmmaker as for his fantastic visuals and dark humor, seemed to hit the ultimate snag with “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” when one of his stars, Heath Ledger, died of a drug overdose in the middle of production in early 2008. Rather than scrap the film, Gilliam found a device that allowed him to work around Ledger’s absence and finish the film.

The device itself is surprisingly seamless. The movie, unfortunately, is not. (More…)

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Guy Ritchie’s post-modern take on “Sherlock Holmes,” but here’s the main one:

Unlike most heroes of American detective literature (Nero Wolfe being the rare exception), Arthur Conan Doyle’s storied detective is not and never has been an action hero. Not that he’s averse to a bit of rough-and-tumble in the name of self-defense – but Conan Doyle’s stories are singularly devoted to his creation’s remarkable deductive skills, not his ability to outfight giants or outrun fireballs.

If Ritchie, an intriguing film stylist, and producer Joel Silver (whose ham-handed fingerprints are all over this film) wanted to make a James Bond film set in Victorian times, why call him Sherlock Holmes? (More…)

Nancy Meyers’ “It’s Complicated” is the kind of movie I would happily have sent my late mother to see: a little bawdy (but not too bawdy), a little naughty (but not too), funny enough, with lots of moments that would make her nod and say, “That’s so true.” The kind of movie she would have walked out of saying, “That was soooo cute.”

In other words, “It’s Complicated” isn’t really complicated at all. It’s exactly the kind of middlebrow entertainment that attracts people who no longer go to movies – because it seems like the kind of movie they no longer make. (More…)

Queen Victoria, to most people (or at least, to most Americans), survives in the form of photos from her later years: the dour dowager whose name has become synonymous with a certain prudishness.

So the idea for “The Young Victoria” is an interesting one: a look at one of Great Britain’s most famous monarchs that offers a version of her life in opposition to the prevailing historical image. Step inside,  writer Julian Fallowes and director Jean-Marc Vallee are saying: We have a younger, more vibrant Victoria to show you. (More…)

Forget the provenance of “Nine” for a moment and consider it solely as a movie unto itself.

Rob Marshall’s musical is a dreamy, sometimes nightmarish journey by a single man – movie director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) – whose muse has deserted him, though its female embodiment (or the plural thereof) is grabbing at him from all sides. (More…)

There are more sophisticated animated films out there than “A Town Called Panic” – but none with the sheer joie de vivre that this Belgian stop-motion-animation entry packs into 75 rollicking minutes.

The film – which opens at New York’s Film Forum today (12.16.09) – is the work of directors Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar, who are quite obviously very much in touch with their inner child. They’ve created the kind of story that a 7-year-old might make up off the top of his head, while playing with a group of favorite toys. (More…)

Every year, one movie seems to come out of nowhere as December dwindles down – a movie that pops up just in time to unexpectedly grab all sorts of awards attention at the last minute.

This year, that movie is “Crazy Heart,” yet further evidence that Jeff Bridges is one of our greatest and most underrated film actors. (More…)

There are visionary filmmakers – and then there’s James Cameron, who pushes the envelope of what is possible on the screen every time he makes a film. He doesn’t do it nearly often enough.

But now here comes “Avatar,” the most dazzling film experience you’ll have this year. Written, directed, produced and, for that matter, pulled whole from Cameron’s brain, “Avatar” is 160 minutes of thrilling entertainment. It’s as heartfelt as it is exciting, as emotionally powerful as it is suspenseful and as brain-bending a fantasy as you’ve seen since “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. (More…)