Director Nicole Holofcener’s ‘Please Give’ offers female look into consumerist greed
"Please Give:" B+
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"Please Give:" B+
"The Cartel:" D+
I’ve been ranting, raving, reviewing and, as of recent, trashing “Avatar” for four years now, but my time has finally come to an end with The Eagle. Before I bid this fine publication farewell and we enter the second decade of the 21st century, I want to take a look back at the past 10 years and spotlight a few directors I think you should all trust in the future.
If there’s something a film produced by the contemporary indie genre must possess, it’s a lost soul. I realized this the same weekend that I realized I had a problem when I could say I had seen three movies in theaters in the span of 24 hours. Oddly enough, however, I felt that I saw three variations of the same story with wildly different results in success — the same story that’s becoming the status quo for “indie” film. And by “indie” I mean in terms of style and tone, not budget.
I was standing in line to see his latest film at a huge multiplex theater behind two young girls dressed up in blue jumpers when I decided that I was in a huge fight with Tim Burton. I realized that I’m no longer a part of his target audience.
I know that I’ve written about the Academy Awards over several of my columns, but I can’t stop. I can’t help it. The Oscars are the Super Bowl for movie geeks. Instead of the playoffs we have the Golden Globes and various Guild awards. After following the race, I’m happy that the awards season is coming to an end, but questions still remain before the big night — namely who will take the top prize.
Apart from Maggie Gyllenhaal’s bizarre Best Supporting Actress nomination for “Crazy Heart,” critics and entertainment industry experts deemed the 2010 Oscar nominations a rather unsurprising affair. Although the Academy expanded its Best Picture race from five to 10 films, countless performances still missed the ballot. Four in particular rendered 2009 the exceptional year for film that it was.
Oscar nomination day is a holiday for me. I wake up super early (on my day off, mind you) and watch the nomination presentation, this year, streamed live online. It’s a lot like Christmas, except without the tree, gifts and family stuff, although you still complain about who shouldn’t be there and who’s missing.
Between serious men, call girls, bomb dismantlers and foxes, 2009 has showcased a gamut of peculiar characters — ones that have shaken the very fabric of the traditional protagonist. Here are some of the best:
With Halloween just around the corner, my annual craving for cinematic horror has been off the charts. The past few years I have found that I am forced to quench my appetite at home with old reliable flicks like “Rosemary’s Baby” or “The Exorcist” — certainly not at the theater.
Contemporary documentary and fiction film are becoming increasingly intertwined, and I blame Michael Moore. Although Moore is frequently cited for violating the integrity of the documentary medium, he’s perhaps the most important — but by no means best — documentary filmmaker of our time.
Rotating back and forth between indie pioneer and blockbuster connoisseur, Academy Award-winner Steven Soderbergh is as bipolar as filmmakers come.
My parents are running out of things to do when they come down to D.C. They’ve owned the National Mall and explored neighborhoods like it’s nobody’s business. And monuments? Please. Over their Labor Day visit, they pledged to cross off the last place on their list of obligatory, touristy D.C. destinations: the Holocaust Museum.
Up in my hometown outside of Philadelphia, the threat of storms is taken very seriously. Residents treat looming remnants of tropical storms like the promise of nuclear apocalypse, stocking up on enough bread, milk and other perishable goods to last them well into 2019 -- just in case. The rain that accompanies these storms is comparable to that of a soaking in the Sea World Shamu splash zone, yet time after time and storm after storm, the public response is dependably overdramatic.
Confining your studying routine to the familiar shelter of Bender Library or Mary Graydon Center is a dangerous move. As an AU student, it's easy to develop the same plight as Princess Jasmine in "Aladdin" and remain within the palace grounds. Studying on campus is rather convenient, but beyond the quad dwells a whole new world and there's no evil Sultan keeping you from experiencing it. Hop on your magic carpet, or Metrobus or rail of your choice, and explore the plethora of alternative studying locales around D.C. at your disposal. The following places serve as a basic springboard for further off-campus studying adventures with easiest transportation routes from the AU/Tenleytown area.
Derick Martini's "Lyme Life" embodies and fulfills the standard requirements of an indie film's debut: overtly eccentric supporting characters, a coming-of-age narrative and a love interest.
"Superbad" director Greg Mottola's "Adventureland" might look like another frivolous teen summer romp, yet its clever balance of lewd humor and poignant insight renders the film a charming stride of originality in an over-done genre.
Matteo Garrone's "Gomorrah" is an exposé of the vast webs of Camorra mob crime troubling Naples and Caserta. Chronicling five divergent yet interconnected stories, the film illustrates the Camorra's broad influence over classes and generations.
Gus Van Sant's "Milk," which charts the heartbreaking, yet inspiring life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States, has successfully reinvented the biopic.
In a year in which roles ranged from ex-professional wrestlers and 1950s suburban couples to gay rights activists and the iconic Joker, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences certainly has a broad range of choices for the 2009 Oscars. If the "No Country for Old Men" sweep at the 2008 awards is any indication, the Academy is definitely encountering a powerful shift of taste. Smaller independent studios are sending out screener DVDs of their films at record highs, boosting the Oscar chances of the kind of performances the Academy typically shuns. This year, however, the Academy might turn their attention to audience favorites in a bid to make up for last year's record low ratings, so expect a ballot fused with box office favorites ("The Dark Knight"), traditional Oscar melodrama ("Revolutionary Road"), off-kilter quirkiness ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") and gritty indie ("The Wrestler"). With the Oscar race set to begin in less than a month, we have compiled our predictions for this year's most unpredictable categories: the acting races.