“All I can do is drive” The eight-minute short film Cadillac, by Nathan Lewinski, is a sentimental portrait of the memory of a man who has left this earth. Beginning without dialogue, an older gentlemen turning on his Caddy while still in the garage, I thought that maybe my cynical mind was playing tricks on me. The first reaction I had to the scene was that this man was committing suicide, especially as the sequence blurs out into black for the next act to begin. Only when I read the…
Read MoreTag: Rain Man
REVIEW: Adam [2009]
“You are a part of me” **Spoilers Included** Right from the get-go, I knew that Adam was going to be an enjoyable, smartly told tale of love despite humanity’s predilection for preconceptions. Just the fact that the film was about a young man with Asperger Syndrome who meets a young girl across the hall of his apartment complex tells you that this won’t be your run-of-the-mill rom-com. You have to believe that filmmaker Max Mayer will treat the material with compassion and intelligence; this is not a laugh-out-loud vehicle to…
Read MoreREVIEW: The Hangover [2009]
“Couldn’t find a meter, but here’s four bucks” The success of Old School pretty much vaulted Todd Phillips onto the A-list for comedy directors. We waited and waited for his second hit, (I didn’t forget about Road Trip which was good as a precursor to Old School), but only got the mediocre Starsky and Hutch and—what I can only imagine as disappointing—School for Scoundrels. Maybe what Phillips needed was a script from the guys that brought us Four Christmases and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past … wow, this is sounding worse…
Read MoreREVIEW: Bandits [2001]
“Do you smell burning feathers?” A true overlooked movie, Bandits is a gem waiting to surprise people. With a guy like Barry Levinson directing, having classic comedies like Diner and Toys, (another ill-received winner) under his belt and dramedies like Rain Man, you know you will be entertained. If you still feel unsure after finding out it stars Bruce Willis and two of the best actors working today in Billy Bob Thornton, (when not playing the vulgar schlub he has lately), and Cate Blanchett, you don’t enjoy cinema. This trifecta…
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