Everything Everywhere All At Once – 2
In 50 minutes I couldn’t make out the premise, and the characters, action and language (Chinese) were so unpleasant that we figured anything we might do at home would be more fun.
Author Archive for: Bob Marshall
Entries by Bob Marshall
Crimes of the Future – 4
A “love story” without chemistry set in a fairly bleak future world where public surgery to remove spontaneously growing extraneous organs is the hot ticket. This resembles a George Saunders short story or a Remedios Varo painting on steroids. Director David Cronenberg is the master of the “body horror” genre. One has to wonder why, […]
A Taste of Whale – 7.5
A provocative documentary about whaling in the Faroe Islands–specifically, an annual (or more) slaughter of pilot whales unfortunately called a “grind.” While the killing is stomach-turning and Sea Shepherd activists politely present the arguments against, the local islanders, and the filmmakers, ask why is this different from slaughterhouse killing of the other animals we eat.
Downton Abbey: New Era – 7
No surprises and nothing original, but in managing to tie up multiple stories with happy endings for everybody–and I mean everybody–Julian Fellowes brought a few tears to my eyes and gave us a pleasant afternoon in the movie house. Everything was a bit pat and no scene lasted more than its allotted 60 seconds; it was […]
Petite Maman – 3
This one required a suspension of disbelief that I couldn’t quite muster. Or maybe it didn’t. Or maybe I missed something when the slow pace put me briefly to sleep. Two look-alike 8-year-old girls meet in the woods and I kept waiting–mercifully for only 1:18–for a plot to emerge. Three points for sincerity.
Cyrano – 8
It felt like an art museum, the Watteau gallery in particular, with soldiers parading and lovers dallying. By adapting a classic play, the movie suspended disbelief and even made the songs feel integral to the plot, which they were. Peter Dinklage, of course, is not a traditional Cyrano, but again, we weren’t looking for realism […]
House of Darkness – 6.5
Not for everyone, but if you came to it expecting Neil Labute’s typically cruel depiction of a male-female relationship you wouldn’t have been disappointed by Justin Long’s bumbling attempt at seduction or Kate Bosworth’s innocent iciness, not to mention the bloody denouement. With only one set and three actors (plus a cameo), this was evidently […]
Apples and Oranges – 1
A history of volunteers at Israeli kibbutzes, told through archival footage and ex post facto interviews, making no point, having no point of view, presenting no reason for its existence as a documentary film.
Stranger’s Arms – 7.5
Hate to call a movie “cute,” but this was adorable. No bad guys, no one got hurt, nothing really “happened,” just three 19-year-olds figuring things out in suburban Long Island, with a lot of beer, a little weed and some locals. This played like the low-budget first feature of recent film school grads, which it […]
The Last Tourist – 3
You could make a movie about the problems caused by the cruise industry, or the evil of raising and training wild animals for human amusement, or the lack of qualifications required to volunteer teach in the developing world, or the self-absorption promoted by social media, or the difficulty of experiencing art masterpieces, or overpopulation in […]
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