the traveler's resource guide to festivals & films
a FestivalTravelNetwork.com site
part of Insider Media llc.
Film and the Arts
Film Review: "Runner Runner"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 04 October 2013 16:47
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Runner Runner"
Directed by Brad Furman
Starring Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, John Heard, Oliver Cooper
Crime, Drama, Thriller
91 Mins
R
While not nearly as intelligent or edge-of-your-seat as his last effort, The Lincoln Lawyer, Brad Furman's Runner Runner is an easily digestible thriller elevated by a sly performance from Ben Affleck. As a businessman-cum-villain, Affleck is the grinning face of rampant capitalism embodied. His character Ivan Block has harnessed the "greed is good" mantra of Wall Street and etched it up a notch, stopping short of nothing to make another dime... or so the film tells us.
However, upon delivery of the goods, Furman comes up short. Like a poker player holding his cards until the last moment, he never really brings the Block character to full-menace, summoning hearty pangs of disappointment from the thrill-hungry audience. But this is a common trend of the film: a slow-play that ultimately reveals a losing hand.
Film Review: "The Summit"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 04 October 2013 14:05
- Written by Kyle Sittig
"The Summit"
Directed by Nick Ryan
Starring Christine Barnes, Hoselito Bite, Marco Confortola, Pat Falvey, Niall Foley, Stefan Grossniklaus
Documentary
95 Mins
R
K2 is the second highest peak on Earth (after Mount Everest) and by far the most difficult to summit. It has a staggering casualty rate of one in four. Nick Ryan’s The Summit tells the story of an infamous 2008 expedition where 11 of 24 climbers were lost. Ryan makes the audience aware of these statistics early on in the documentary, helping to shape an acute sense of foreboding as we hear virginal tales of these excited climbers over sinister music. Unfortunately the film’s strong start is spoiled by haphazard editing that trumps its initial sense of excitement and leaves the viewer in disbelief that the run time is only 95 minutes.
As far as educational value goes, the film certainly doesn’t skimp. Grand in scope, it lays out every detail about what makes this the hardest climb in the world as well as the history of the mountain, and what exactly has gone wrong to result in so many deaths. If the goal is to learn as much as possible about K2, this is a good starting place. Outdoor enthusiasts and adventure seekers will be pleased, as this film is clearly aimed towards those who can relate to these methodical adrenaline junkies.
Film Review: "Parkland"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 04 October 2013 00:20
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Parkland"
Directed by Peter Landesman
Starring Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti, Jackie Weaver, Marcia Gay Harden, James Badge Dale, Colin Hanks, Mark Duplass, Ron Livingstone, Billy Bob Thornton, Jeremy Strong
Drama
93 Mins
PG-13
Everything that holds Parkland back is cemented right into its very foundation due to the fact that it's a story with an airplane hanger's breadth of anecdotal perspective. Following the journey of no less than six central characters during the days of and following JFK's assassination, this mostly true biopic is so frequently shifting gears that it never manages to achieve a degree of focus or narrative intent. Leapfrogging from story to story, the focal point is so consistently fleeting that we never feel tethered to a single narrative. Instead, we're lost in a jumble of self-importance and historical whodunnits with actual characters cast to the side. In attempting to capture everything about a historic day, director/screenwriter Peter Landesman has captured almost nothing.
Partially based on Vincent Bugliosi's novel Four Days In November, Parkland is exactly the type of historical drama that allows the importance of a true-life event to supersede the actual narrative within the film. Characters are painted in broad strokes, making their varied reaction to the assassination feel plastic, like action figures trying to sing, dance, and cry. Every story beat is so uptight and self-aggrandizing that it's impossible to sort this mish-mash of events into whatever framework the film is supposed to achieve.
Film Review: "Gravity"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 04 October 2013 00:11
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Gravity"
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris
Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
90 Mins
PG-13
The true star of Gravity is notSandra Bullock but director Alfonso Cuarón and his crew of special effects wizards. Getting started with a bang in a mind-blowing 13-minutes uncut shot, the dance of Cuaron's camera quickly establishes the level of head-scratching wonder that will go on to define the film. Floating from on high into tight zooms before zipping into wide pans with a solitary shot, Cuarón's camera is one of mystifying eloquence, a whodunnit of CGI effects. His uninterrupted camera work displays an immeasurable degree of invisible precision, whether it's drifting amongst the black canvas of space or capturing cacophonous yet silent explosions. For the miles-from-simple technological feats he has achieved here alone, Cuarón proves he is an undeniable modern master of cinema.
But that fact, in and of itself, doesn't mean that Gravity is not without its missteps. At times, the script from Cuarón, and son Jonás feels clunky and a bit unnatural. How much this stems from English not being the Cuaróns' native language is debatable but it at times serves to take us out of the moment, a tragic reminder that this is indeed still a film with people reading their lines. Thankfully, the film is predominantly a silent one and these tell-all bits of dialogue serve more as a relic to the disaster movies of the golden age than lofty, award-seeking self-indulgences. From that limited prowess within the script comes a simplicity of storytelling that both elevates Gravity and holds it back from being truly wonderful.
