Friday, January 9, 2015
Mungiu's next film, Beyond the Hills, was heavily lauded at Cannes in 2012. It didn't appear in Vermont multiplexes, but locals had a chance to see it at a Burlington Film Society and Vermont International Film Foundation screening last June.
I recently caught up with Beyond the Hills on Netflix. Normally I don't notice (or give) Netflix star ratings, because I hate star ratings with a passion. (Yes, even the ones I have to give for this paper. Star ratings are dumb.)
But I couldn't help seeing that users of the streaming service had awarded the art film a whole 1.5 stars. My question: Would I like it any better?
Tags: movies , film , beyond the hills , cristian mungiu , netflix , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, January 2, 2015
What You Missed
Britain's beloved Princess Susannah has been kidnapped. In a viral YouTube video, her abductor promises to kill her unless the prime minister performs an unspeakable act — on live television.
A woman wakes with no memory to see a mysterious symbol blinking on her TV screen. Everyone she asks for help ignores her pleas and holds up a cellphone to film her.
Tags: black mirror , charlie brooker , movies , film , Movies you missed , Image , Web Only , Video
Friday, December 19, 2014
There's director Lynne Ramsay's cult favorite Morvern Callar, which opens with a young woman lying on the floor beside her dead boyfriend — who has committed suicide — while Christmas lights pulse around her.
Writer-director Zach Clark's White Reindeer starts from a strikingly similar premise. He even develops it in Christmas-centric fashion — unlike Morvern, which moves past the holiday in its first hour. Variety declared that the movie "will be treasured annually by those who have acquired its curdled-eggnog taste." That's a big claim, so I checked White Reindeer out.
Tags: white reindeer , zach clark , anna margaret hollyman , film , movies , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, December 12, 2014
Happy Christmas is the 2014 offering from prolific low-budget director Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies, Hannah Takes the Stairs), whom you may also have seen on screen in You're Next, The Sacrament, V/H/S and a host of other films. Spotting him is the indie-film version of Where's Waldo?
What You Missed
Jeff (Swanberg) and Kelly (Melanie Lynskey of Heavenly Creatures) are an arty couple living in Chicago with their 2-year-old son. Into their lives comes Jeff's younger sister, Jenny (Anna Kendrick), who's looking for new direction after a breakup. She crashes in their basement, parties with her friend Carson (Lena Dunham) and starts a tentative relationship with the couple's pot-dealing babysitter (Mark Webber).
Soft-spoken Kelly isn't crazy about Jenny's general lack of having her shit together. But as they talk, Jenny's nervous energy galvanizes her, and she finds herself wondering why she's put her work as a novelist on hold to be a full-time mom. Jenny eggs Kelly on to write a "sexy mom" book (à la Fifty Shades of Grey) that could catapult her to the best-seller lists, and an unlikely friendship results.
Tags: happy christmas , joe swanberg , anna kendrick , melanie lynskey , mumblecore , movies , film , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, November 28, 2014
But in case you haven't made a snap judgment and are willing to give this film a chance, here's more:
Tags: movies , film , charlie countryman , shia labeouf , evan rachel wood , fredrik bond , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, November 21, 2014
What You Missed
Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) is a young singer-songwriter with more aspiration than inspiration. Basically, all his song ideas are crap.
Then Jon meets the Soronprfbs. The band's keyboardist has just tried to drown himself, and they need a replacement for tonight's show. When Jon shows up for the last-minute (and catastrophic) gig, he's weirded out by the band's American frontman, Frank (Fassbender), who wears a giant fake head. Not just for shows, all the time. ("I have a certificate!" he yells at anyone who asks him to take it off.)
Tags: movies , film , frank , lenny abrahamson , michael fassbender , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, November 14, 2014
What You Missed
Simon James (Eisenberg) is a loser. Total strangers order him to vacate his seat on the subway. His fellow employees at a drab government agency barely recognize him. Hannah (Mia Wasikowska), the depressed, ethereal girl he loves, doesn't know he's alive. He uses a telescope to observe her through her window and carefully retrieves the torn-up artwork she throws in the trash.
Then James Simon (also Eisenberg) enters the picture. The new employee could be Simon's physical twin, but he's outgoing, gregarious, likable, manipulative. In no time at all, James has Simon doing favors for him and Hannah in his bed. He knows how to make her happy — and unhappy, it transpires.
Tags: the double , richard ayoade , jesse eisenberg , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, November 7, 2014
What You Missed
Matt (Matt Johnson, who also directed, produced, cowrote and co-edited) and Owen (Owen Williams) are two Canadian high school students making a movie. It's called The Dirties, and it's a revenge fantasy about destroying the bullies who dog them at school.
Matt, who has a basement full of movie posters, has stuffed his debut auteur effort with swaths of dialogue from Pulp Fiction and obscurer references to films like Irreversible. Owen is happy just to go along for the ride and "shoot" prop guns.
Tags: the dirties , matt johnson , owen williams , found footage , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, October 31, 2014
This Week in Movies You Missed: Of course I have a Halloween movie for you — if you don't mind that this outrageous Spanish import is more funny than scary.
What You Missed
Deep in the woods, three witches are receiving a prophecy about the "chosen one." "A yellow sponge?" one says dubiously, reading the cards. "Jesus Christ? A green soldier?"
It all becomes clear in the next scene, set in Madrid, where we discover a fellow named José (Hugo Silva) robbing a gold dealer dressed as Jesus, complete with loincloth and crown of thorns. His accomplices have equally silly getups, including SpongeBob SquarePants and a green soldier. Oh, and he's brought along his 10-year-old son (Gabriel Delgado) so they can bond while aiming semi-autos at cowering employees.
Tags: alex de la iglesia , witching and bitching , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, October 24, 2014
This week in movies you might miss: the "first Iranian vampire western."
You can kick off Halloween week in style by catching A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, the debut feature from writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour, on Sunday, October 26, 10 p.m., at Burlington's ArtsRiot as part of the Vermont International Film Festival. (Tickets, $5-10.)
What You Might Miss
Somewhere in Iran, there's a place called Bad City dominated by a gigantic power plant and a fleet of idle oil wells. A place that appears to be inhabited mostly by pimps, whores, drug dealers, addicts and party girls.
Arash (Arash Marandi) is none of the above. He's a gardener with a sports car who likes to wear tight T-shirts and pose like James Dean. When his junkie dad (Marshall Manesh) runs afoul of a vicious dealer (Dominic Rains), he's in danger of losing everything he loves — but not for long.
Because someone else stalks the streets of Bad City. She (Sheila Vand) wears a chador and a Breton-stripe top like Jean Seberg in Breathless. She follows men. Quiet and demure, she invites them home with her. She decides for herself what they deserve. And she executes her judgment — sometimes with fang and talon.