Tag Archive for: o’ lucky critic

Exploring Haneke’s Hidden themes


Earlier this week I was talking to a non-cinephile friend of mine who expressed an interest in delving into the beautiful and emotionally charged world of French film. A chance to share some of the best, under-appreciated cinema with someone excited me. I recommended a few directors she should check out if she had a […]

Suspense makes for better Halloween film


Halloween is right around the corner — the corner in this case being Sunday — and if you are anything like me, the holiday is a great excuse to combine two of my favorite things in the world: hanging out with good friends and watching horror movies. We’ve all seen the old horror classics: The […]

Baseball documentary lacks revelations and a pulse


Ken Burns’ The Tenth Inning, the latest in his baseball documentary series, is a crashing bore, and the most that can be said on its behalf is that Stockholm syndrome sets in roughly halfway through. For four hours, The Tenth Inning unfolds like a seemingly endless high school history lesson, covering the most scant basics […]

Rum is the right ingredient for film


It’s not even the end of October, but I feel as if it’s time to start closing the book on 2010 and looking ahead to 2011. Yes, we’ve yet to see Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan or the Coen brothers’ True Grit, but still, it’s never too early to look ahead. In that vein, one of […]

A golden year for cinematic excellence


You might not be aware, dear reader, but we are in the midst of a good ol’ knock out of a movie year. Not since 2007 — the year of There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men and Juno — has the silver screen shone so bright. Yes, there was something magical in […]

Sicilian Girl explores the fall of the Mafia


Is the film worthy of the story? That is the question that must be asked, and answered, about The Sicilian Girl ­— and every other film based on a true story. After all, fiction isn’t fiction when the characters are real. But let’s save the answer until I’m done rambling. The Sicilian Girl is based […]