Thompson on Hollywood

Now and Then: 'Heaven's Gate,' Catastrophe or Classic?

Reviews

Once reviled, Michael Cimino's controversial "Heaven's Gate" (1980) may remain — despite the Criterion Collection's effort to resuscitate it — a cautionary tale of directorial hubris, Hollywood excess, and wayward ambition. The real moral of the film, however, is far simpler: "Heaven's Gate" is an object lesson in the intangibility of greatness.

By Matt Brennan
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November 27, 2012 4:21 PM
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Now and Then: 'Lincoln,' the Movies, and Historical Accuracy

Reviews

"Lincoln" is no dour disquisition, no romance of an imagined past, but a heroic, even thrilling drama of compromise and chicanery in the midst of the Civil War. Indeed, it resolves one of the medium's oldest conundrums: "Lincoln" is that rare thing, good history and great cinema at once.

By Matt Brennan
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November 13, 2012 1:28 PM
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Now and Then: 'Your Sister's Sister,' Lost in the Oscar Shuffle

Reviews

As much as I enjoy awards chatter, this time of year can be frustrating. Spring, summer, even early fall releases that merit attention melt away before the campaigns of the heavy hitters. Lynn Shelton's lovely character study "Your Sister's Sister" won't factor in the Oscar race, and maybe it doesn't deserve to. But it surely deserves your eyes.

By Matt Brennan
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November 6, 2012 3:52 PM
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Now and Then: After the Storm, Portraits of Tenacity in Recovery

Reviews

As a resident of a city whose history of storms — and their concomitant unnatural disasters — is troubled at best, I watched Sandy warily but distantly. Thing always look different outside the "cone of uncertainty." The images coming in from the Northeast this morning put me in a more solemn frame of mind.

By Matt Brennan
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October 30, 2012 12:02 PM
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Now and Then: 'Four,' Moving Portrait of Love and Sex in the Time of Craigslist

Reviews

"Four," director Joshua Sanchez's remarkably honest, empathic adaptation of Christopher Shinn's play about a quartet of lovelorn folks in a modern age, works on you slowly. It's taken me about a week since seeing it at the New Orleans Film Festival to suss out just how complex and world weary it is, and how surprisingly beautiful.

By Matt Brennan
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October 23, 2012 12:47 PM
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Now and Then: At NOFF, Indie Comedies 'It's a Disaster' and 'Supporting Characters' Impress

Reviews

"It's a Disaster" is something you title your film only if you have a lot of faith in the project. The pun, for a critic disposed to go negative, is almost pathetically easy. Fortunately for writer/director Todd Berger, such confidence is well deserved. "It's a Disaster" is hilarious.

By Matt Brennan
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October 16, 2012 11:52 AM
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Now and Then: 'Decoding Deepak,' or What the Bleep Does He Know?

Reviews

Early in "Decoding Deepak," the titular spiritualist and his filmmaker son float languidly over Thailand's Chao Phraya river delta, on their way to the former's ordination as a Buddhist monk. "Don't try to make sense of it, just roll the cameras and try to keep up," the director sighs. Mission accomplished.

By Matt Brennan
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October 9, 2012 4:04 PM
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Now and Then: 'Looper' and the Future of Sci Fi

Reviews

Deep into "Looper" we meet Sara (Emily Blunt), a young mother and cane farmer in the year 2044. The moment, for science fiction, is riskily quiet — in the first blush of dusk she mimes lighting a cigarette, taking a slow drag on imagined bliss. It's also, for all the film's nodding at the genre's past, a glimpse of where sci fi is going.

By Matt Brennan
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October 2, 2012 11:59 AM
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Now and Then: 'The Master' and Paul Thomas Anderson's American Quadrilogy

Reviews

"The Master" is challenging, gorgeous, and forcefully weird, a critical darling and early Oscar contender, but you already knew that. It's also the fourth film in a great, daring, ambitious project to depict the shadow side of our national life over the course of a century — what might be called Paul Thomas Anderson's "American Quadrilogy."

By Matt Brennan
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September 25, 2012 1:14 PM
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Now and Then: In 'Chico & Rita' and 'Nobody Walks,' The Sound of Heartache

Reviews

Early in "Chico & Rita," under the shimmer of the Tropicana's spotlight, Rita rummages through the lower octaves of attraction. Smitten, Chico gapes from the bar, dragging on a cigarette. Humid with sound, the scene has the texture of live action, its every wrinkle and wink. A movie song hasn't conveyed desire quite like this in nearly forty years.