60http://shareddarkness.comMon, 06 Feb 2012 09:50:44 GMTMon, 06 Feb 2012 09:50:44 GMTen bsimon@artnet.netnohttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/02/02/chronicle.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonA low-fi genre hybrid that attempts to cash in on both the burgeoning trend of "found footage" thrillers and superhero origin stories, Chronicle only scratches the surface of its junior-level Magneto narrative. Leaning on an increasingly ineffective patchwork blend of diegetic sources, the movie opts for showy theatrics and set pieces over more honest character investment, and ultimately fritters away a quite promising concept. For the full, original review, from Screen International, click here. (20th Century Fox, PG-13, 84 minutes) ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/02/02/chronicle.aspx#Comments5fe641f2-35a4-402f-99a3-b5a041f65c50Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:15:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/02/02/life-interrupted.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonHampered by a few jury duty curveballs courtesy of the criminal justice system, which are presently gracing me with some 17-hour days. Case in point: set to conduct an interview this morning via cell phone, with recorder jacked into earpiece, while I'm driving to Van Nuys, as that was the only mutually convenient time I was free. We'll see how that works out. Exhausting, yet it's also interesting to be thrown together with a random cross-section of folks -- a reminder of what's out there, as Jack London might not say. ...Ephemerahttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/02/02/life-interrupted.aspx#Comments80b65ec2-7362-494d-a54b-f97cc7b3d239Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/31/after-fall-winter.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonWriter-director-actor Eric Schaeffer has made a career out of more or less channeling his offscreen insecurities, foibles and sexual appetites into what could loosely be categorized as slices of desperate-plea entertainment. His filmography behind the camera -- which includes If Lucy Fell, Wirey Spindell and 1997's critically lambasted Fall, to which his latest film is a quasi-sequel -- is littered with movies in which he plays articulate, misunderstood, down-on-their-luck guys (often cabbies or writers, sometimes both) who bag chicks consistently out of their league and then get wound up about the impending implosion of said relationships.Bittersweet, Paris-set romance After Fall, Winter (or just Winter, as it was at one point known) finds Schaeffer again trying to navigate a miasma of commingled narcissism and human frailties, with a pinch of the unlikely and wounded romance on display in Never Again, which was both his most streamlined and mature, well-observed work. Characteristically ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/31/after-fall-winter.aspx#Commentsf80d4070-6cb0-47f8-9653-475dd0fea9faWed, 01 Feb 2012 02:15:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/31/alamo-drafthouse-princess-bride-wines.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonIn honor of the 25th anniversary of The Princess Bride, Alamo Drafthouse is launching a limited line of signature wines entitled The Bottle of Wits, on February 14. What does this mean? Two varietals: "Inconceivable Cab" and "As You Wish White." For more information, click here. ...AmusementsEphemerahttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/31/alamo-drafthouse-princess-bride-wines.aspx#Commentsaf62dc63-8f50-4f44-b062-a19b64a3e474Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:45:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/28/one-for-the-money.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonA deeply vapid movie which puts no sincere care or thought into how its slapdash story choices interact with the real world, One For the Money fancies itself a spunky action comedy with a spitfire heroine and a will-they-or-won’t-they romance at its core. Instead, it's inane (and unfunny to boot) wish fulfillment of the most dreadful variety -- an utterly phony tale of empowerment whose leading lady is repeatedly rescued and enabled by men. Starring Katherine Heigl, this mishmash defies logic as an adaptation of author Janet Evanovich's first in a series of bestselling novels, so across the board tone-deaf is it. For the full, original review, from Screen International, click here. (Lionsgate, PG-13, 91 minutes) ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/28/one-for-the-money.aspx#Comments9dbd7247-aecf-410e-80ff-6c00755b7914Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/27/theatre-bizarre.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonSix discrete stories of varying levels of effectiveness come together in The Theatre Bizarre, a macabre horror anthology that eschews the laborious weirdness of something like Christopher Landon's Burning Palms, and instead focuses more forthrightly on crafting and sustaining a mood of uneasiness. The main commingled narrative ingredients are genre staples -- sex, compulsion, paranoia and obsession -- which work well for a movie that doesn't shy away from gore, but is generally interested in more psychologically rooted fear. If, in the end, The Theatre Bizarre suffers from the same main problem that plagues so many anthology efforts -- a couple weak entries weighing it down -- it still compares relatively favorably to the qualitative mean established by Anchor Bay's "Masters of Horror" series from a few years back. For the full review, from ShockYa, click here; for The Theatre Bizarre's trailer and more screening information, meanwhile, click here. (W2 ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/27/theatre-bizarre.aspx#Comments7c218e4e-5280-4d07-b86a-b84f4a67dbfaFri, 27 Jan 2012 23:35:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/26/special-treatment-dvd.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonFrench actress Isabelle Huppert, nominated for a record 13 Cesar Awards, has made a career out of playing nervy characters with all manner of sexual foibles or secrets. In Special Treatment, she's a high-class prostitute with dormant issues fueling a desire for a career change. The eighth feature offering from cult filmmaker Jeanne Labrune, this generally well sketched and set-up drama cashes in its early intrigue, though abandons darker overtones for rather wan interpersonal revelations. More after the jump...DVD Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/26/special-treatment-dvd.aspx#Comments7183e040-8c99-41d7-8ddc-22f31bed84b2Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/26/asghar-farhadi-interview.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonRelations between the countries of Iran and the United States may be ill at ease, but Iranian cinematic import A Separation -- just off its Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film win and a Best Screenplay feting by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the first such honor from the organization for a foreign film -- is deservedly capturing the hearts and minds of plenty of American cineastes. The movie is a multi-layered familial drama about a married couple (Peyman Moadi and Leila Hatami) attempting to resolve elder care issues, their teenage daughter's needs and the potentiality of a divorce when a misunderstanding turned legal problem with their new maid renders these problems secondary. Sophisticated and yet immediately knowable, the rapturously engaging A Separation belies cliched notions of how a foreign film must connect with American audiences in staid, formal tones. I recently had a chance to sit down one-on-one ...Interviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/26/asghar-farhadi-interview.aspx#Commentse64c7748-f57d-4be1-a666-726e50a44c67Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:30:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/24/2011-oscar-nominations.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonNominations for the 84th annual Academy Awards are out today, and apart from being thrilled at the lack of recognition for the dreadful Hoodwinked Too!, I'm heartened by the deserved love for Moneyball. A few other quick thoughts -- it's nice recognition for A Better Life's Best Actor nominee Demián Bichir, Best Documentary nominee Hell and Back Again, and particularly Best Original Screenplay nominee A Separation. Massively bummed about the lack of kudos for Drive and Martha Marcy May Marlene, though. Interviews with A Separation's writer-director Asghar Farhadi and Pina director Wim Wenders, also a Best Documentary nominee, coming later today. Hosted by Billy Crystal, the Oscars will be broadcast on February 26, live from the Kodak Theatre, on ABC. ...Awardshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/24/2011-oscar-nominations.aspx#Comments361ccfb2-5ed2-4d0e-b2e9-a403548cda21Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:15:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/23/andrew-sullivan-gop-rage.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonPost-South Carolina, Andrew Sullivan tees one up and smashes it out of the park, playing the world's tiniest violin for what is called the Republican establishment -- which now consists of Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, Roger Ailes and their mainfold products and creations run amok -- and a political party that is "angry at the new shape and color of America, befuddled by a suddenly more complicated world, and dedicated primarily to emotion rather than reason." This is what happens when you habitually enable, and indeed encourage, gamesmanship for the sake of gamesmanship, and politics as war. ...Politicshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/23/andrew-sullivan-gop-rage.aspx#Comments4f39eda8-b076-4516-a04a-2d49e0dc06e7Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/21/eames-architect-painter-dvd.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonThe light and whimsical blueprints and inventions of Charles and Ray Eames -- American designers whose influence stretched into modern architecture, graphic design, film, furniture and fine art -- left a mark in both the United States and abroad, spawning a namesake chair and much more. Directed by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey, this documentary provides a solid look-see at both the couple's creative instincts and collaborations as well as their sometimes tortured love for one another. More after the jump...DVD Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/21/eames-architect-painter-dvd.aspx#Comments696d3680-0475-461a-a2b3-a7827b08d427Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/20/16-love.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonA paint-by-numbers, underdog-made-good, coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of junior circuit tennis, 16-Love is a wholesome movie of modest ambitions, shaggy and sunny personality, and middling execution. For tweens looking for something to while away the time between Twilight flicks there may be some small measure of entertainment, but nothing else here particularly merits a glance for older audiences. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/20/16-love.aspx#Comments63e3ee62-4aae-42ed-840a-c8f67e514d00Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:25:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/19/viral-factor.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonViral pandemic drama takes a backseat to fraternal fisticuffs and gunplay in The Viral Factor, an enjoyably sprawling if completely scatterbrained action movie from director Dante Lam, starring Jay Chou (above) and Nicholas Tse. A nervous tendency to flit to and fro between characters prevents the movie from successfully gaining much of an emotional foothold, and its two-hour running time renders vast swathes of its action theatrics redundant. But there's still enough expressive investment in the two leads to mark The Viral Factor as a slightly stronger than average genre piece for foreign film fans. For the full, original review, from Screen International, click here. (China Lion/Emperor Motion Pictures, R, 122 minutes) ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/19/viral-factor.aspx#Commentsac5ad0a2-d59d-4c7a-a8d7-86f5f179c539Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/18/haywire-redux.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonSteven Soderbergh's Haywire opens this Friday, January 20, so it's time for another tip of the cap for MMA fighter Gina Carano, who damages the skulls of Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor and others in Soderbergh's at once lithe and bruising revenge film. I first saw this movie about a year ago, but for my review of it from its AFI Festival presentation last fall, click here. ...Ephemerahttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/18/haywire-redux.aspx#Comments167ce7e6-f306-4d9c-bbfb-dca901112bc6Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:35:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/15/shark-night-dvd.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonUnabashed shlock-fest Piranha 3D raked in a bunch of money in 2010, and even though most of its $83 million worldwide gross came from overseas, Hollywood took notice and immediately tried to wring extra dollars out of the watery, imperiled teenagers subgenre, passing off basically the same general concept to stuntman turned director David Ellis in the hopes that some of his magic touch with teen-friendly material (The Final Destination, Snakes on a Plane) might somehow elevate Shark Night, which was dutifully released in theaters last autumn in the 3-D format, to something passably entertaining. Oops, that didn't work. More after the jump...DVD Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/15/shark-night-dvd.aspx#Commentsd8714994-ceed-4bcd-890a-efb835d434b4Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:05:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/13/angels-crest.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonA description or listing of all the recombinant parts of drama Angels Crest -- the plot here feels like a Law & Order episode, more or less, and the movie itself seems like a boozy, downmarket hybrid of The Shipping News and Gone Baby Gone, with a pinch of Northern Exposure -- runs the risk of making it sound more interesting than it actually is. An adaptation of a missing-child novel by Leslie Schwartz, director Gaby Dellal's wintry indie is a not very subtle and generally unpersuasive stab at tapestral grief-as-elegy. If cinematic skill lies partially in making an audience feel things they've felt before, but in new and different ways, Angels Crest, starring Thomas Dekker, Lynn Collins and Jeremy Piven, is a highlighted, underlined, out-of-date textbook, dogmatic about its presentation, no matter how overly familiar it is. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/13/angels-crest.aspx#Commentsc35ebc2a-2dcc-4372-a7ff-d0f81ca1fda2Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/11/an-update-from-the-fringe-of-sanity.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonUpdates and postings here have been and will continue to be a bit sporadic, at least until the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards dinner on Friday is in the rearview mirror, and I have collapsed and caught up on sleep. Them's the breaks, unless someone has some cloning technology or one of those remote controls from Click that they'd like to share, although I'd really prefer to leave Christopher Walken out of this if at all possible. ...Ephemerahttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/11/an-update-from-the-fringe-of-sanity.aspx#Commentsc27dcb5e-fa18-41f8-8b45-88b6d213b8e2Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/10/lindsay-sloane-talks-sex-theme-parties-her-orgy-experience.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonPossessing crack comedic timing, beauty and yet still a sympathetic visage and demeanor, Lindsay Sloane exudes girl-next-door goodness, a quality which has kept her steadily employed in a variety of mostly sunny roles in both movies and television. It's exactly these traits which writer-directors Peter Hyuck and Alex Gregory wished to deploy in subversive manner by casting Sloane in their bawdy comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy, just out on DVD last week. I had a chance to sit down and chat with Sloane about the uniquely titled ensemble movie, as well as her off-screen thoughts on its subject matter and what exactly the "orgy cut-off number" is that makes her uncomfortable. She also drops a Bad Boys reference, which is pretty damn cool in my book. For the full read, over at ShockYa, click here. ...Interviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/10/lindsay-sloane-talks-sex-theme-parties-her-orgy-experience.aspx#Commentsda38a1d6-1df6-404b-ba6c-2fa85971d1c5Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/08/michael-biehn-interview.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonActor Michael Biehn has had a long and varied career, but to hear him tell it, his experience shooting his new film The Divide and other events surrounding its production may have marked a change in his professional attitude and outlook. In addition to starring as ex-firefighter turned survivalist Mickey in the post-apocalyptic thriller, which finds a group of New York City neighbors trapped together in the basement of their apartment building in the aftermath of a possible nuclear strike, Biehn has also turned his attention to life behind the camera. With Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, his wife and producer/costar, Biehn's recently completed directorial debut, The Victim, just sold to Anchor Bay Films, and will now see a release later this year. On Friday, I had a chance to participate in a press day for The Divide, talking with Biehn about his instincts for "polishing a turd," his reasons for finally jumping ...Interviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/08/michael-biehn-interview.aspx#Commentse2f5aeb8-0869-4a72-ac29-076bac52d7d4Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:35:00 GMThttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/07/joyful-noise.aspx?ref=rssBrent SimonAn unwieldy, frequently baffling piece of claptrap that careens wildly to and fro in its efforts to serve many different narrative masters, gospel-tinged Joyful Noise aims for many different marks, and misses on almost all of them. By turns a musical competition drama, a blue-collar homily, a forbidden coming-of-age romance and a tale of familial reconciliation, the movie tries to use noisy, open-hearted effort to mask its narrative deficiencies, but it comes across as phony -- a duet of prefabricated sentimentality and self-satisfied impudence.The performances are things of volume and homespun sass; in short, these aren't characters, they're vessels for wan moralizing and sometimes snappy, mostly tired rejoinders. Ladled across all of the hokum is a bunch of convoluted, cornpone metaphors. Special note should go to hairstylist Cheryl Riddle, though, who creates a mesmerizing special effect and the movie's most lasting reminiscence in the form of Dolly Parton's towering, teased-upwards ...Film Reviewshttp://shareddarkness.com/2012/01/07/joyful-noise.aspx#Comments5bd0a33d-c42f-48eb-8293-a04886176f58Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:35:00 GMT