Film, Cleveland Scene

Movies In

Sam Allard — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Parks & Rec Stars! by Sam Allard Parks and Recreation is one of the best comedies on television right now. No arguments please.…

Movies Out

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to go see this week THURSDAY may 16 The Kid With A Bike…

Movies Out

Wed, 08 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to go see this week FRIDAY may 10 Moonrise Kingdom…

Movies In

Sam Allard — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN by Sam Allard Chances are, you missed the The Master during its theatrical release last year. (It grossed only $16 million, playing at select theaters).…

Movies Out

Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to go see this week at the ole cinema FRIDAY may 03 Blancanieves…

Movies In

Sam Allard — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Whodunnits by Sam Allard MOVIES IN: WHODUNNITS…

Movies Out

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to go see this week Thursday apr 25 Children of Men…

Movies In

Sam Allard — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Netflix Originals by Sam Allard A swing and spectacular miss for the folks over at Netflix. Good God, what detritus!…

Who Made Wu

Jeff Niesel — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Ken Jeong talks about his role in the dark comedy Pain & Gain by Jeff Niesel Ken Jeong originally wanted to be an actor but when he thought that dream wouldn’t materialize, he decided to go to medical school instead. “When I got into medical school, I started doing stand up on the side as a hobby,” he says.…

Coded confessions and conspiracy theories collide in Room 237

Jeff Niesel — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Jeff Niesel One day while browsing websites while his infant daughter slept, producer Tim Kirk stumbled across an article about how The Shining was Stanley Kubrick’s coded confession that he had faked the footage of the Apollo moon missions. He knew one guy who would appreciate that theory: director Rodney Ashcher.…

Rob Zombie discusses the genesis of Lords of Salem

Jeff Niesel — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Jeff Niesel Rob Zombie originally started writing The Lords of Salem, several years ago, just before he turned his attention to remaking the cult classic Halloween (and then its sequel, Halloween II). “My initial inspiration was a book I was reading about the Salem witch trials,” he says.…

Movies Out

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to go see this week Thursday apr 18 Holy Motors…

Movies In

Sam Allard — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to watch at home this week: Violence and Teenager edition by Sam Allard You guys remember Snatch? That Guy Ritchie crime movie from 2000 with a poster reminiscent of Entourage and a cast that seemed to feature not one female?…

Opening: Oblivion

Sam Allard — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Sam Allard Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski, the same guy who pooped out that shiny, stupid Tron: Legacy piece of shit with those Xena disco boomerang things, has now pooped out a Tom Cruise sci-fi action flick. It’s a movie which only vaguely nods in the direction of character development as it labors to forcibly congeal an involved sci-fi premise.…

Female Trouble

Jeff Niesel — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

With Trance, director Danny Boyle delivers a delicious thriller by Jeff Niesel Director Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) signed on to helm Trance at the same time that he started work on 127 Hours, the James Franco movie about a rock climber who has to cut off his own arm in order to free himself from the boulder that has lodged between him and a canyon wall. For Boyle, Trance, which opens areawide on Friday, offered a nice break from more serious subject matter.…

Destiny's Child

Jeff Niesel — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

With The Place Beyond the Pines, Derek Cianfrance overcomes his allergy to violence by Jeff Niesel After he saw Abel Gance's 1927 film Napoleon when he was in film school, director Derek Cianfrance knew he wanted to emulate it and one day make a triptych film of his own. So he spent the next few years thinking about a movie about a stunt man who uses his motorcycle to rob banks.…

Opening: The Place Beyond the Pines

Sam Allard — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Sam Allard The chiseled and erratically tattooed torso of Ryan Gosling commands the screen in the opening shot of The Place Beyond the Pines. It’s a torso which defies a switchblade Gosling flings around like a nunchuck in his carnival camper before processing to the “Cage of Death.” It’s a mesmerizing opening sequence, janglingly percussive and intimate, and it preludes the physical violence and -- bizarre as it sounds -- emotional danger to come.…

Screens

Eric Sandy — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to watch this week: baseball edition by Eric Sandy Baseball season is under way and the Tribe's home opener is right around the corner. Before you drain your checking account for a Bud Light and a coupla hot dogs at the stadium, get yourself prepped by streaming some of the best baseball movies of all time.…

Home Movies

Vince Grzegorek — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Five locally flavored films not to be missed at the Cleveland International Film Festival by Vince Grzegorek The 37th Cleveland International Film Festival, which runs April 3 – 14 at Tower City Cinemas, will showcase 180 feature films and 164 shorts. Films from all across the globe will grace the screens, including a handful of flicks with local ties.…

Opening: NO

Sam Allard — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Sam Allard Gael Garcia Bernal stars as a skateboarding Chilean ad executive in ‘NO,’ a grainy portrait of the political advertising efforts surrounding the 1989 referendum of Chile’s military dictator Augusto Pinochet. Bernal’s character Rene revolutionizes the ‘NO’ campaign by using upbeat tropes from commercial ads in the 15 minutes his team is allotted each night to sell their cause.…

Screens

R.J. Justavick — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to watch this week: chicks in space edition by R.J. Justavick In researching some movies for a potential new article, I came across an interesting sub-genre of the sci-fi movie category: women in space. Now, most movie geeks are familiar with Barbarella, the granddaddy of sci-fi chick movies, but there are some other "ladies in space" movies that, while not technically "great" or even "very good," may very well entertain anyone gathering up a group of friends for a "bad movie" night.…

Film Capsules

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

In theaters this week Beyond the Hills Set in a convent in rural Romania, this film follows Alina (Cristina Flutur) and Voichita (Cosmina Stratan), two young women who have been friends since they met as children at an orphanage. At the film's start, they're reunited after a period of separation.…

Opening: G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Jeff Niesel — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Jeff Niesel Paramount shelved this movie for nearly a year to retool it. But no amount of retooling could save it.…

Screens

R.J. Justavick — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

What to watch: movies about movies edition by R.J. Justavick Being a big movie nerd, I dig when a decent documentary about how the film industry works comes along. This week's column is dedicated to just such movies.…

Opening: Stoker

Jeff Niesel — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Jeff Niesel The English language debut from Korean director Park Chan-wook arrives with a good deal of anticipation. His foreign language flicks — particularly 2003’s Oldboy — suggest a singular vision and a unique take on the horror genre.…