Doors documentary breaks on through
'When You’re Strange: A Film About the Doors' tells the band’s story its own way.
Class gives film students a taste of real life
In CTPR 480, cinema production majors work overtime on their movies.
Action and politics Clash in latest film epic
Clash of the Titans opens with images of constellations and a voice explaining how stories are written in the stars. The revelation is both concise and seemingly profound; it marks the end of the movie’s overt poetry. On the surface, the remainder of Clash of the Titans looks just like any other action movie. Like […]
Film explores emotion across spectrum
It’s difficult to say whether grief or love is the greatest emotion one can experience. Both are overwhelming, full-body sensations that tend to linger long after the damage is done. So it’s no surprise, then, how one can replace the other over time. In The Greatest, a character-driven family drama that premiered at the 2009 […]
First foray into filmmaking needs work
Don McKay is writer/director Jake Goldberger’s feature film debut. The independent film premiered almost a year ago at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and is finally getting a wider release in Los Angeles, New York and Boston this week. Starring Thomas Haden Church (Sideways), Elizabeth Shue (Leaving Lost Vegas) and Melissa Leo (Frozen Rivers), the […]
New Nicholas Sparks adaptation is almost touching
Nicholas Sparks’ novels are formulaic, simple and cheesy, but girls love them. Adaptations of Sparks’ novels have the potential to be transformed for the screen into an epic love story, like The Notebook, but they can just as easily fizzle out into Razzy-worthy trainwrecks. The movie version of The Last Song was a giant “almost” […]
Film school students showcase mid-semester collaborations
Cinema-television production majors enrolled in CTPR 310 screen shorts produced after winter break.
South Korean film finds humor in cruelty
Mothers are strange beasts. Their relationships with their children are far more complex and imperfect than most realize until they are parents themselves. Some women come to hate their children while others, like the older lady at the center of director Joon-ho Bong’s Mother, develop an unhealthy obsession with their offspring. Bong’s first South Korean […]
Burton presents new vision of old territory
For seasoned filmmaker Tim Burton, negotiating the fine line between his role as a sweetheart of Hot Topic patrons and a director exploring the boundaries of commercial viability is a full-time job. Alice in Wonderland’s wide release opening today marks the director’s most recent effort to darken the silver screen. In the film, Burton tells […]
Shutter Island is good, but not Scorsese’s best
Now, the question here isn’t whether or not Shutter Island is a good film — because it most certainly is. The question, given the director’s glowing repertoire and ’06 masterpiece, is whether or not Shutter Island is a great film. All things considered, Shutter Island finds Martin Scorsese sorely out of his element. Teddy Daniels […]