CinemaFunk

"The American" allows George Clooney to play a man as starkly defined as a samurai. His fatal flaw, as it must be for any samurai, is love. Other than that, the American is perfect: Sealed, impervious and expert, with a focus so narrow it is defined only by his skills and his master. Here is a gripping film with the focus of a Japanese drama, an impenetrable character to equal Alain Delon's in "Le Samourai," by Jean-Pierre Melville.

I’m not going to add anything to the scholarship on Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy, but holy moly are these films breathtaking.  I’d seen Rome, Open City previously, but, no, I really hadn’t.  A good print, as characterizes the new Criterion transfers, is indescribably immersive.  Post-war Europe comes alive. 

It’s September already — can you believe it?! The last days of summer are upon us and Labor Day, is right around the corner. With that, the start of the new school year. Kids getting back on the bus, parents inwardly feeling giddy, and teachers secretly wishing for just another 2 weeks of vacation before the beginning [...]

"Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1" (R, 133 minutes). Continuation of the brutal life of France's most notorious criminal, who survived a 20-year series of bank robberies, kidnappings, prison breaks and murders. Vincent Cassel makes him brutal, ugly, powerful and inscrutable. Winner of French Oscars for best director and actor. Three and a half stars

"Mugabe and the White African" (Unrated, 90 minutes). The story of Mike Campbell, a white farmer in Zimbabwe, who resists the efforts of the Mugabe regime to take over his farm, and eventually wins his case in an African regional high court. Dramatic, emotional, but raising some questions that go unanswered. Three stars

"The American" (R, 95 minutes). George Clooney is starkly defined as a criminal as obedient and focused as a samurai. He manufactures weapons for specialized jobs. He lives and functions alone. He works for a man who might as well be a master. He used few words. Only his feelings for a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido) supply an opening to his emotions. Zen in its focus. Four stars.

What an incredibly unfunny movie. There are a lot of things wrong with Neil Labute's remake of the British comedy Death at a Funeral, but the main problem seems to be that Labute is not a comedy director. Sure his version of The Wicker Man elicited copious amounts of laughter, but that was all unintentional comedy - Death at a Funeral is the complete opposite film, save for the fact that they are both terrible. Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence play a pair of brothers, reunited by the funeral of their father. Throughout the day, they encounter nothing but trouble from all sorts of people,...

With so much crap in the theatres lately, I’ve been watching more film rentals at home. Since these films were out earlier in the year, I didn’t bother to write up any extensive reviews here on the site. But I thought I would do a quick run-down of what I have been watching and letting you [...]

It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking.

The shadow cast by The Exorcist is so large and looming that all horror and exorcism movies made in its wake have an uphill climb; William Friedkin took a B-movie genre and made a grade-A film, and no one has been able to come close to anything similar, despite numerous attempts. So if you are setting out to make a film about an exorcism now, what can you do to either up the ante or separate yourself from the pack? The Last Exorcism set out to be a little different and it might take a lot of audiences by surprise. The trailers and commercials sell a straight forward horror film, but the...

Heist movies can be made in several ways. You can have a cool heist movie, filled with fun characters played by popular actors (think Ocean's 11). You can have a puzzle of a heist movie, in which the heist itself is a Rube Goldberg device that only becomes clear in the end (think David Mamet's Heist). You can have a strong character heist film in which a central character is well developed, or even tougher to do, in which a large group of characters all get various levels of development and depth (look to Michael Mann in general). Takers has none of these characteristics. It tries...

Parodies of Hitler are usually pretty funny — and this one is no exception. Here, the Fuhrer’s men have the misfortune of having to inform him of the tragic news that Marvel has just been acquired by Disney (“Marvel now belongs to Mickey Mouse”). Hitler’s reaction to this is hysterical as his rant gets more [...]

TFT 141 running time: 48 minutes 55 seconds – 22.5mb mp3

Original Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast – Follow TFT on Twitter – Go to the Facebook Page

Yesterday, I did a write-up on Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film, Munich, which I consider to be his most daring, most mature work to date. But that’s just me. Part of the reason I started this website is to have a dialogue with other movie lovers, getting your thoughts and opinions on the world of movies. So [...]

The Square may not quite live up to the modern noir classics that inspired it, but with twists and tension to spare, it comes admirably close.

I remember seeing the movie back in 2005, thinking it was perhaps his strongest work to date as a filmmaker. Screening it again this week only helped to cement my initial reaction of it as being a truly remarkable film. And although it may not be his “greatest” achievement (there is a little film called Schindler’s List [...]

Jerry O'Connell thesps it up in this Pirahna 3D scene

A friend of mine accused my last article (Kick Ass & Why I Don’t Like Super Hero Movies) of elitism. As if. Snobbery maybe, but elitism? If I were truly a film elitist, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the skin & blood fest that is Piranha 3D.

But for all its faults, I did.

"Centurion" (97 minutes; Rated R). A 97-minute chase through the spectacular scenery of the Scottish Highlands -- the far reaches of the Roman Empire in 117 A.D. -- as a platoon of bedraggled Roman soldiers find themselves hunted behind enemy lines by savage Picts. It gets monotonous, but there's lots of pretty red gore to brighten things up. With Michael Fassbender and Dominic West. Directed by Neil Marshall ("Dog Soldiers," "The Descent"). Two and a half stars.

"Chicago Heights" (Unrated, 90 minutes). A cinematic adaptation of Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio," moved to the present and recent decades and set in the far south Chicago suburb of Chicago Heights. Director Daniel Nearing uses a central character muck like Anderson's, who meditates on the lives he has observed in this African-American community, and as he approaches he recalls them in love and sadness. A remarkable job of evoking the essence of a book that is often considered not filmable. Three stars

"Flipped" (PG-13,90 minutes) Juli (Madeleine Carroll) has adored Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) ever since he moved into the neighborhood in the second grade. Bryce has been running away from her ever since. Now they're 14 and they seem to be flipping: he more interested, she less. Rod Reiner's warm human comedy tells their stories by showing the same crucial events from both their points of view. He returns to the time of his "Stand By Me" with the same endearing insights. Rating: Four stars