Author Archive
Bird Watching – Kathryn Bigelow’s “Strange Days”
It’s probably fair to say that Kathryn Bigelow is the most famous female film director working today. Maybe that’s why I’ve taken my time in getting to discussing any of her work in this column. Nobody needs to be told who she is. She has,…
READ MOREBird Watching – Hot Coffee – SIFF Film Review
I like a documentary that lets me realize how little I know about a subject. Hot Coffee, from director Susan Saladoff, makes that its goal. The film points out the ways certain areas can be information voids for most laypeople (even reasonably educated ones), without…
READ MOREBird Watching – The Off Hours – SIFF Film Review
There’s a point in the film The Off Hours, from local writer and director Megan Griffiths, when our main character, Francine, answers a casual question about how long she’s worked as a waitress at a truck stop diner. An attractive and somewhat troubled woman, Francine…
READ MOREFilm Review – Attack the Block
Dear Stateside Readers, I am sorry that I am about to tell you some things about a film that you may not be able to watch for awhile. It’s an unfortunate situation that Attack the Block has no U.S. release date yet. But, I invite…
READ MOREBird Watching – Lynne Ramsay’s “Ratcatcher”
There are many films that rest on the premise that people are awful to each other. Sometimes these films can be difficult to watch. The most difficult ones, for me, are the ones that show how awful children and adolescents can be to each other.…
READ MOREWhat We’re Watching – 5/18/11
Let’s break this down, shall we? On the big screen What have I been watching in theaters lately? (I mean, besides Bridesmaids, of course.) Because I couldn’t seem to get it together to see it in a timely fashion, I haven’t yet talked about Source…
READ MOREBird Watching – Bridesmaids: The Morning After
You would think I had produced the film, with how desperately I wanted Bridesmaids to make a ton of money this past weekend. I’m not a person who makes a point to read box office predictions, and in this case I actively avoided it—any prediction,…
READ MOREDialogue Review – Bridesmaids
Allen Almachar: Bridesmaids (2011) stars the comedian Kristen Wiig, who, for the last couple of years, has been one of the funniest people around, and perhaps one of the last reasons to still watch Saturday Night Live. I for one, am glad to see her…
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