Thursday, October 13th, 2011
The Ides of March
What if George Clooney really parlayed his star power into the sphere of politics? Would the opposing parties occupying Wall Street both decamp? Or would the dreamboat be swift-boated for sinking the ship in The Perfect Storm faster than Bill O’Reilly can cry “Hollywood élite”? (The star’s already been bested at the box-office by the [...]
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Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler was near-great. It may have been diffuse around the edges, but it had Mickey Rourke for its beating heart—and Marisa Tomei just out of his reach. Released to theaters between President Obama’s election and inauguration—and on the heels of the economic crunch—it gave an “ordinary” American workingman the chance to do [...]
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Thursday, May 13th, 2010
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 isn’t your daddy’s superhero movie. It’s your granddaddy’s. The steady torrent of wisecracks on the screen is indebted to the ’30s screwball comedies that accelerated newly audible dialogue to supersonic speed; and in this high-grade hybrid the screws are actual screws, and the balls energy-based projectiles launched from our hero’s metallic palm. [...]
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Monday, February 23rd, 2009
The Wrestler
The Wrestler is a true champ—in part because the screenwriter, Robert D. Siegel, and the director, Darren Aronofsky, never go for the knock-out. Instead, they’ve made a beautifully lean picture, austere enough that its moments of sentimentality drizzle like raindrops, and never cascade. This story, which tells of one man’s downfall, is so simple and [...]
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Monday, November 17th, 2008
Synecdoche, New York
Watching Synecdoche, New York is like catching up with an old friend whose company you enjoy, but who, slowly but surely, starts to monopolize your time. You know that his blathering is a tic he can’t control, so you don’t want to push him away; alas, you feel compelled to check your watch and marvel, [...]