|
Tokoyo Sonata / ***1/2 (PG-13)
|
by Roger Ebert
Just as the economic crisis has jolted everyday life, so it shakes up "Tokyo Sonata," which begins as a well-behaved story and takes detours into the comic, the macabre and the sublime. All you know about three-act structure is going to be useless in watching this film, even though, like many sonatas, it has three movements.
|
|
Gigantic / **1/2 (R)
|
by Roger Ebert
On the basis of "Gigantic," Matt Aselton can make a fine and original film. This isn't quite it, but it has moments so good, all you wish for is a second draft. Nor is it ever boring. You can't say that about a lot of debuts. I suspect he was trying too hard to be terrific and not hard enough to get organized.
|
|
Paris 36 / **1/2 (PG-13)
|
by Roger Ebert
Sometimes you get the feeling that if a movie had been made years ago, it would now be considered a classic. "Paris 36" is like that -- an old-fashioned story set around a music hall. Cutting-edge, it's not. But if taken in the right spirit, enjoyable.
|
|
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh / ** (R)
|
by Roger Ebert
After that summer, nothing would ever be the same again. Where have we seen that movie before? Most recently last week, in "Adventureland," another movie set in 1980s. If you think about it, after every summer, nothing will ever be the same again. But "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" has an unusually busy summer, in which a hero who is a blank slate gets scrawled all over with experiences.
|
|
Fast & Furious / *1/2 (PG-13)
|
"Fast and Furious" (PG-13, 107 minutes). Exactly and precisely what you'd expect. Nothing more, unfortunately. You get your cars that are fast and your characters that are furious. The fourth in the series, with Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and the other major cast members from the original 2001 movie now back again. Who cares? Rating: One and a half stars.
|
|
Sin Nombre / **** (R)
|
"Sin Nombre" (R, 96 minutes) The interlocking stories of a young woman from Honduras and a young man from southern Mexico, who meet while riding on the root of a freight car on their long journey to the U.S. border. The trip is forged in hell, but the film also finds room for beauty and romance. Winner of the awards for best direction (Cary Fukunaga) and cinematography at Sundance 2009. Rating: Four stars.
|
|
Shall We Kiss? / **1/2 (No MPAA rating)
|
"Shall We Kiss?" (Unrated, 102 minutes). A story within a story about two lifelong best friends who agree to have sex for purely therapeutic reasons, and end up inconveniently in love. Their problems generate complications worthy of a Woody Allen movie, but on such a refined level they always seem oddly artificial. Moderate charm, immoderate naiveté. Rating: Two and a half stars.
|
|
Alien Trespass / ** (PG)
|
"Alien Trespass" (PG, 90 minutes). Has the plot, feel and look of a cheesy 1950s B movie about aliens on a flying saucer that threaten the earth. Well done to be a convincingly bad movie--on purpose. But isn't teh market for bad 1950s sci-fi already well-supplied? Rating Two stars.
|
|
Theater of War / **1/2 (No MPAA rating)
|
"Theater of War" (Unrated, 96 minutes). Meryl Streep is at the center of this documentary about the 2006 Central Park production of Bertold Brecht's "Mother Courage." She discusses "process" in rehearsals, but the film does sink in and show her molding a scene with her colleagues. Instead, it includes too much extraneous material of anti-war protests and college lectures on Marxism. Streep is interesting, of course, and there's a comprehensive review of Brecht's his theatrical career, life in exile, and adventures with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Rating: Two and a half stars
|
Movie Answer Man: Let the right one in, but
with the wrong subtitles
|
Q. There's been a lot of negative buzz among bloggers about the poorly translated subtitles on the DVD and Blu-ray release of the acclaimed Swedish vampire film "Let the Right One In." The distributor, Magnet Home Entertainment, released the discs with subtitles that were "dumbed down," compared to the more informative, accurate translation provided by the film's theatrical-release subtitles.
Magnet has fixed the problem, and subsequent pressings will include the theatrical subtitles, with "theatrical subtitles" indicated on the packaging. Kudos to them for correcting the problem, but still, it seems like a mistake to even consider the misguided "benefit" of dumbed-down subtitles that eliminate subtleties of character and dialogue.
Jeff Shannon, Seattle
A. Mike Cucinotta of iconsoffright.com seems to have broken the story and uses lots of screen grabs to document the tone-deaf dumbing-down. For example: Oskar, a 12-year-old boy, sees Eli, a girl about his age standing outside on a winter night without a warm coat. She's balanced on a jungle gym.
Oskar: Do you live here?
Eli: Yeah. I live right here, in the jungle gym.
Oskar: Seriously, where do you live?
Eli: Next door to you.
Oskar: How do you know where I live?
In the dumbed-down version, these are the subtitles for the same conversation:
Oskar: Where do you live?
Eli: I live here. Next to you.
Cucinotta says Magnet is restoring the original subtitles in discs now being released. Look for those crucial words, "theatrical subtitles." The whole story is here:
http://tinyurl.com/dd7c3m
|
|
Commentary: Thoughts on Bill O'Reilly and Squeaky the Chicago Mouse
|
To: Bill O'Reilly
From: Roger Ebert
Dear Bill: Thanks for including the Chicago Sun-Times on your exclusive list of newspapers on your "Hall of Shame." To be in an O'Reilly Hall of Fame would be a cruel blow to any newspaper. It would place us in the favor of a man who turns red and starts screaming when anyone disagrees with him. My grade-school teacher, wise Sister Nathan, would have called in your parents and recommended counseling with Father Hogben.
|
|
Commentary: Stars under the stars, for free
|
Great movies under the stars for free. The lineup has been released for this summer's 10th annual Chicago Outdoor Film Festival, presented by the Mayor's Office of Special Events and programmed by the Chicago Film Office. In honor of two recently passed movie giants, Paul Newman in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and director Sydney Pollack's "Tootsie" are included. And a John Ford classic will screen in honor of the Abraham Lincoln centenary.
|
