by Warren Curry
6/14/12 (original review posted 6/24/03)
If you look closely at the poster which accompanies this review, you’ll see that “Funny Ha Ha” was named one of the top 10 films of the year (that year would be 2003) by three different sources, one of which is this very website you’re currently reading. If I accomplish nothing further as an, ahem, “film critic,” I’ll take great satisfaction in being one of the early champions of Andrew Bujalski’s “Funny Ha Ha,” which is largely known these days as the world’s first mumblecore film.
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by Warren Curry
5/17/2012
Almost exactly one year after premiering at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, “Polisse,” the new film from writer/director/actor Maïwenn, is receiving a U.S. theatrical release, and it’s one of the more intense films I’ve seen in recent memory. Employing a gritty, documentary-like visual approach, the French-language “Polisse” is a movie bursting at the seams with explosive energy. Occasionally, scenes tend to spiral out of control, but the film’s flaws may actually help you appreciate it more.
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by Warren Curry
5/10/2012
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s well-regarded 2004 film “Nobody Knows” is the only previous work of the filmmaker’s I’ve seen, and I’ll admit to not having strong feelings about it one way or the other. It struck me as meandering and overly long, though it certainly contains admirable qualities. Like “Nobody Knows,” his new movie, “I Wish” (aka “Kiseki”), also uses children as its protagonists, but is much brighter in tone. I can’t say this film makes as much of an impact on me as it likely intends to, but it features characters you care about and definitely has its heart in the right place.
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by Warren Curry
4/12/2012
Canadian writer/director Philippe Falardeau’s “Monsieur Lazhar” was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in this year’s Academy Awards, and it’s the type of movie you’d expect to go over well with Oscar voters. While I’ll stop short of describing the film as “feel good” entertainment, it is relatively safe and emotionally obvious, although it has powerful moments. The film shifts back and forth between moving, organic scenes and ones that come across a bit contrived.
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by Warren Curry
4/5/2012
To begin this review, I’ll proclaim that “Damsels in Distress” is my favorite Whit Stillman film to date (and his first one in 14 years). And here’s where I should also confess that I’m not a fan of his other movies (with the exception of “The Last Days of Disco,” which I haven’t seen), so the use of the word favorite in the previous sentence is entirely relative. Having said that, “Damsels in Distress” has its share of amusing moments and also displays the interesting evolution of actress Greta Gerwig. I can’t guarantee it’s a film I’ll really remember in much detail several months from now, but it’s easy enough to watch.
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