by Warren Curry
7/8/10
For the first 15-20 minutes of Josh and Ben Safdie’s “Daddy Longlegs,” lead actor Ronald Bronstein — lean, wiry, prone to bursts of manic energy — appears to be doing an imitation of a quirky character from an early Jim Jarmusch movie. Cynics (who, me?) may find themselves in the position of waiting for the actor to slip, thus revealing the first cracks in the film’s authenticity. But after those initial 20 minutes expire, one comes to the realization that Bronstein’s performance is absolutely genuine…and so is the Safdies’ deceptively excellent film.
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by Warren Curry
7/7/10
I can’t imagine that any fan of, say, half of the ten filmmakers profiled in the bluntly titled documentary “Great Directors” won’t derive some level of enjoyment from it. Angela Ismailos needs a healthy amount of seasoning before she can join the ranks of her subjects, though her passion for the documentary’s participants is unquestionable. That passion has obvious benefits, but her fawning interview style and an inclination to insert herself excessively into the film leaves something to be desired. Fortunately, the topic itself pretty much guarantees success.
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by Warren Curry
6/28/2010
Tom DiCillo’s “When You’re Strange” is subtitled “A Film About the Doors,” which is true, though it could more accurately be called “A Film about Jim Morrison.” Morrison, of course, was the band’s leader and one of the most (in)famous rock stars in music history. It’s been nearly 40 years since his death, almost 20 years since Oliver Stone’s biopic about The Doors was released (which helped renew mass interest in the band) and to this day Morrison stands as a larger than life figure.
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by Warren Curry
6/28/2010
Arguably, no single album has influenced the heavy metal genre as much as Black Sabbath’s second full length record, “Paranoid.” Released in 1970, “Paranoid” would go on to sell millions of copies worldwide and ushered a loud, dark sound into the vernacular of popular music. The ominous opening notes to the band’s most well known song, “Iron Man,” are basically the aural equivalent of a horror movie.
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by Warren Curry
6/24/10
Near the conclusion of “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll,” director Matt Whitecross’ exuberant biopic of late British musician Ian Dury, the charismatic man tells an interviewer that he thinks of himself as more an entertainer than a singer. I feel it’s safe to say most of his fans did as well. In strictly a conventional musical sense, Dury (played by Andy Serkis) was a man of dubious talent, but if this film provides an accurate representation, when on stage he was a supremely engaging showman.
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