tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38510142012-02-12T06:43:43.516-08:00Cinema Veritea blog site dedicated to film reviews mostly. my reviews. i like writing 'em so i hope you enjoy reading 'em.kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-46616965570680822372009-05-27T11:35:00.001-07:002009-05-27T11:53:06.936-07:00Chinatown reduxJust in case anyone thinks designers have no life outside of work...Watching on average 4-5 films per week for the past ten years has made it difficult to write about them. Over time I find they blur together and I forget details about them. Often I have to go back and watch them again— which is a pleasure. I did this recently with "Chinatown." This is on my top ten list of all time, perhaps in kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-78032942206733186292008-04-13T14:58:00.000-07:002008-04-13T14:59:08.818-07:00a work in progressdue to a heavy work load i have been very bad about watching and reviewing movies.will attempt in 2008 to change this trend...kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-1106508730056740742005-01-23T11:30:00.000-08:002005-01-23T11:37:38.833-08:00been busy starting a new biz and making a move...been a wee bit busy this past year. quit job in december and launched a new biz in a new city in january. fun fun and hard work. so... not too many reviews written. no more playing in bands either. just got oo busy. maybe one of these days eventually:)kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-1072725212781190732003-12-29T11:05:00.000-08:002003-12-29T11:39:59.950-08:00Okay it is that time of year again- my 2003 best of list- I am borrowing the typing talents of my friend Ben Nuckols who put a list together. I am copying and pasting from his list which had a number of titles I liked as well. Credit where credit due right? These are not in any particular order. Okay now for the list...
1. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-1071171125793288042003-12-11T11:29:00.000-08:002003-12-11T11:33:11.186-08:00okay it has been far far too long since i have written a review- i vow to change that in 2004. been a bit distracted. for those of you who have actually taken the time to read my reviews and email me responses thank you so much- means a lot that anyone takes time outa their busy day to read my reviews.
sorry i have not been very good about responding.kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-958316032003-06-19T09:20:00.000-07:002003-06-20T07:40:19.000-07:00HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE or How to Lose Your Mind in
238 Days or Less
"My film is not a movie. My film is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam. It is what it was really like. It was crazy. And the way we made it was very much like the way the Americans were in Vietnam. We were in the jungle, there were too many of us. We had access to too much money, too much equipment. And kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-953318382003-06-05T09:01:00.000-07:002003-06-05T09:43:30.000-07:00The Magnificent Seven
Metaphorical Marlborough Man meets the Seven Samurai and kicks 100 Mexican banditos' butts
"We lost. We always lose." says Yul Brynner in the last line of one of the last great "classic" western tales. A great line from a great film that will stick in the gray matter long after watching it. Sandwiched in-between the fantastic THE SEARCHERS and THE WILD BUNCH, this 1960 kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-953317102003-06-05T08:58:00.000-07:002003-06-05T09:03:06.000-07:00it has been suggested to me that people be able to email me with any comments on reviews so please feel free to do so at: sohagal@hotmail.com
I look forward (maybe) to your commentskate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-945539972003-05-18T16:53:00.000-07:002003-05-18T17:35:57.000-07:00In a break from film I saw the Cramps last night who put on such a great show- one of the best I have ever seen- that I had to mention it. So here is a little quote from Lux Interior talking about he and Poison Ivy's world view. It is kinda cool...
Lux Interior:
"We're just people who remain ever-curious. We're just attracted to whatever comes in handy. Again, like the Surrealists, anything kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-944635422003-05-16T11:41:00.000-07:002003-05-16T11:41:32.790-07:00THE SHAPE OF THINGS
Writer-director Neil LaBute’s new film THE SHAPE OF THINGS adapted from a play is his latest misanthropic take on relationships and a meditation on what is art. Rachel Weisz is outstanding as Evelyn the beautiful, controlling M.F.A student at Mercy College who dates undergrad Adam played by the adequate Paul Rudd. Evelyn manipulates and molds Adam, transforming him from a kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-942174472003-05-12T11:38:00.000-07:002003-05-12T15:01:12.000-07:00BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, directed by 31-year-old Justin Lin and written by Mr. Lin, Ernesto M. Foronda and Fabian Marquez, is the darkest portrayal of Asian Americans on screen to date. Talk about controversy. The film is stirring up a lot of that, particularly at its 2002 Sundance screening where Roger Ebert stood on a chair and defended its portrayal of Orange County Asian American high school kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-927889692003-04-17T10:31:00.000-07:002003-04-19T14:12:05.000-07:00NOWHERE IN AFRICA
Directed by Caroline Link (BEYOND SILENCE) who also wrote the screenplay based on a novel by Stefanie Zweig NOWHERE IN AFRICA is about a Jewish family fleeing Nazi Germany for Kenya in 1938. Although a bit slow going at times, it is overall a compelling tale of outsiders trying to survive in a foreign land. Leaving their comfortable life in Frankfurt, the Redlich family tries kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-923587172003-04-10T06:43:00.000-07:002003-04-10T08:14:26.000-07:00SPUN
Just wait until it comes out on video.
In theory this movie could have been watchable given that director
Jonas Åkerlund is a music video/commercial director and a film about
speed freaks on a three-day drug binge could lend itself to the frenetic
type of editing the Swedish Åkerlund has used in his videos.
Unfortunately this story about a collection of addicts is not worth
editing, atleastkate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-919165022003-04-03T06:59:00.000-08:002003-04-03T07:14:13.000-08:00FIDEL
Is that a Cuban cigar in your pants or are ya just happy to see me? (gee flippancy is so unlike me— must be spring).
Where to start? A thorough disappointment and for God’s sake I like the man and his politics! And why a disappointment?… cause I walked outa the Charles Theater adoring Fidel. Yep— I applauded along with the other seven or eight folks in the theater and toasted him kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-915029892003-03-27T13:25:00.000-08:002003-03-28T08:36:38.000-08:00RIVERS AND TIDES
Directed by German filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer, Rivers and Tides is a documentary about 47-year-old Scottish environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. Shot over the course of a year, it details his numerous pieces which basically are comprised of things he finds in nature such as ice, rocks, flowers, leaves, even wool, that he rearranges and that are transformed by nature which kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-906544102003-03-13T09:01:00.000-08:002003-03-13T10:30:04.000-08:00Russian Ark
Russian Ark is a single tracking time travel shot lasting about 87 minutes. Director of Photography Tillman Butter (Run Lola Run), used a steadicam later transferring footage to 35mm film. It is the longest shot in film history- a real technical marvel. Directed by Russian Alexander Sokurov, who attempted this three times before getting it right, the film took four years to finance kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-902444542003-03-06T08:23:00.000-08:002003-03-07T08:08:52.000-08:00ADAPTATION
Directed by Spike Jonze, ADAPTATION is the fascinating story of painfully insecure screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's agonizing struggle to adapt New Yorker writer Susan Orlean's nonfiction book, THE ORCHID THIEF into a screenplay as exotic and intriguing as any of the 30,000 varieties of orchids that exist (gee I hope that figure is correct - I think it is close but alas have no fact kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-898521632003-02-27T10:48:00.000-08:002003-02-27T10:48:49.000-08:00The Quiet American
The Quiet American is a thoughtful film about what ensues when cynicism, both personal and political, collide with idealism. Set in ’50s Vietnam before large scale U.S. involvement, the film centers around jaded British journalist Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine), his Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) and young, idealistic American aid worker Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser)kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-890444742003-02-13T10:32:00.000-08:002003-02-18T07:45:57.000-08:00Shanghai Knights
Anarchy in the U.K. Kungfu style
Mindless entertainment has its uses especially as an escape during these times of Orange terrorist warnings. Sometimes you just want to forget all the crap that is going on in the world and lose yourself for two hours with some taffy for the brain. This is just the movie for that. And as my friend Jonathan Mayo pointed out a Chan movie is “good, kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-886049422003-02-05T11:46:00.000-08:002003-02-05T13:13:06.000-08:00Talk to Her
Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know… (okay that’s lame but so what)
Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar, "Talk to Her" is a mystery. But it's about love, so that makes perfect sense. Ostensibly about two men in love with women in comas and their relationships with the women, the film is also an exploration of the bonds formed between the two men. Nurse Benigno loves ballet kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-882736872003-01-30T08:25:00.000-08:002003-01-30T11:16:22.000-08:00The Pianist
Powerful and moving this film set in WW II directed by the great Roman Polanski explores anti-Semitism, survival and unexpected acts of kindness amongst brutality and barbarism as experienced by one person- Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman. I realize at this point almost everyone has seen it but for those who haven’t it don’t wait until it comes out on video. Maybe since the kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-879199022003-01-23T13:49:00.000-08:002003-01-23T13:50:52.000-08:00The Killer Elite, The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Peckinpah Films in Spades: Some Violence to Keep You Warm on These Cold Nights
Sometimes you rent one film by a director and next thing ya know you're on a bit of a kick and so it goes with Peckinpah. Beautiful choreographed violence, with a little dash of machismo tossed in, plus some misogyny, honor and betrayal are kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-875431392003-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:002003-01-16T09:57:17.570-08:00Rabbit-Proof Fence
Based on "Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence" by Doris Pilkington Garimara,
this excellent, unsentimental Australian film chronicles three
"half-caste" (half Caucasian, half Aboriginal) girls. They were forcibly
removed from their home in 1931, were placed in an official government camp,
escaped and made a 1,500-mile journey through the Australian outback
to their village. Aptly kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-875325082003-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:002003-02-14T08:50:29.000-08:00Just in case you can't get enough of my reviews I am now writing a weekly film review column for a Baltimore/DC ezine called The Shank.
"Any Monkey. Any Hat.
Baltimore's free weekly interactive e-zine.
All the stuff that's worth doing in the Baltimore-Washington
Metropolitan Area and beyond. "
The ezine is a guide to arts events for Gen X & Y readership basically.
If you are interested in kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-871796802003-01-09T12:02:00.000-08:002003-01-09T12:02:40.646-08:00Top 10 films of 2002
Punch-Drunk Love
Not being a fan of Adam Sandler, I had my doubts about this film. But since it was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, I thought I’d check it out. I was floored; who knew Adam Sandler could act? He was actually pretty good I must admit. Pudding promotion, phone sex and a quirky love story combine to make this a great film. Bonuses: lush cinematography, a kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-864900952002-12-24T12:04:00.000-08:002002-12-24T12:04:31.710-08:00"The Man with the Golden Arm"
"The Man with the Golden Arm," directed by Otto Preminger, is my video antidote to all the saccharin-sweet fare on television during the holiday season. Who needs a darling Natalie Wood when you can have a strung-out Frank Sinatra? In this 1955 film noir, based on the book by Nelson Algren, Sinatra stars as Frankie Machine: card dealer, ex-con, heroin addict, kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-858430182002-12-11T08:15:00.000-08:002002-12-18T07:49:59.000-08:00"El Crimen del Padre Amaro"- this ain't no Thorn Birds hon
Director Carlos Carrera's film takes full aim at the hypocrisy and corruption of the Catholic Church in Mexico and boy howdy is it having an effect. Based on a novel by 19th century Portuguese novelist Eça de Queirós, the film revolves around Father Amaro, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, and the setting is Mexico. Bernal's newly ordained kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-850720542002-11-25T13:03:00.000-08:002002-11-27T06:09:16.000-08:00Well I am now delinquent with my reviews- so many movies so little time- sigh. Saw two documentaries this weekend: "Comedian" and "La Ciudad." Also saw "Die Another Day." Must say about the Bond movie- CGI animation is not a substitute for a decent plot line despite what George Lucas thinks. kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-833620812002-10-22T11:29:00.000-07:002002-11-27T06:09:36.000-08:00Saw "The Ring" Sunday night- am debating if I want to exert any enegy reviewing it. I think it is pointless to do so until I see the Japanese version which until a few days ago I didn't even know existed- shame on me!!
Anyways I decided I might review a number of foreign films and their American remakes such as "Plein Soleil" (Purple Noon) starring my favorite French matinee idol Alain Delon vs.kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-828510712002-10-11T10:59:00.000-07:002002-11-27T06:10:03.000-08:00I am now posting to a site called Blogcriticis.org: A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, and technology (their words not mine). Click on the link to your left that says Blogcritics....
kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-828493262002-10-11T10:15:00.000-07:002002-11-27T08:46:13.000-08:00I find this amusing...
From the Mobtown Shank #155, Dug Sohn responds to my review:
I'm not even sure what all that review meant, but I'll tell you this, One Hour Photo was about One Hour and Thirty Five Minutes too long. Are you kidding me? That movie sucked. One-dimensional characters/performances, and a plot line that could be conceived by a dorky teenager reading Vogue - creepy guy obsesseskate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851014.post-828485632002-10-11T09:55:00.000-07:002002-11-27T11:54:28.000-08:00Why blog? Why not. Thought I'd give myself a forum for things I wanna share, lambaste, toast, etc. Saw "One Hour Photo" last night. Good film. Not great but good.
A film which simultaneously explores alienation and obsession as well as is a nuanced and powerful indictment of American values such as they exist today. Writer/Director Romanek launches a salvo albeit a subtle, relentless one kate tallenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712811571168866035noreply@blogger.com