Take Shelter (8/10)

Multiple interpretations: So rare in movies today, with everything carefully explained for the lowest common denominator of moviegoers. Not so in the case of Take Shelter, the new movie from Jeff Nichols. Is it real or is it not? Is it a straight-up story or a parable for modern times? Are we doomed or are we not? Is the main character as mad as a box of frogs?

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Resurrect Dead (7/10)

The tiles first appeared in Philadelphia in the early 80s. They soon spread: first through the city, then to Baltimore, New York City, as far west as Chicago, as far south as Argentina. They say the same thing.

‘TOYNBEE IDEA.
IN Kubrick’s 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER’

This much is true. Websites are dedicated to them, now they are known as Toynbee Tiles. So what’s the story?

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Chinese Take-Away (Un Cuento Chino) (2/10)

After starring in two fantastic films on the bounce, and with a history of quality that goes back over a decade, I was thrilled and excited when I had the chance to see star Argentinean actor Ricardo Darín’s new movie Chinese Take-Away. The premise looked good, too; a comedy about life’s absurdities and cross-national misunderstandings. Sadly, it’s an absolute disaster.

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Another Earth (8/10)

Just to the east of the North Star there is a blue spot, but not any ordinary blue spot. It is Earth 2, an exact replica of our planet, a cosmic mirror, if you like. Its continents are the same as ours, it has a moon identical to ours, and it surely can sustain life. It’s also getting closer. Soon, we’ll be able to travel there. What will we find?

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Music Connections, No. 8

On to week 8. The connections just keep on coming.

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Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da) (4/10)

Sprawling over two and a half languid hours, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is not for the faint-hearted or the weak-bladdered. A character study, a travelogue, a rag-tag police procedural, a trial of one’s patience; it is all of these. Its director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, is infamous on the European art-house circuit, and critics have labelled this his most accessible work. I suspect I’ll never find out for myself whether that’s true or not.

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The Rum Diary (7/10)

Considering the copious amounts of alcohol involved, it’s probably appropriate that The Rum Diary is a bit fuzzy when it comes to the details. Johnny Depp’s second paean to Hunter S. Thompson is much more accessible than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and, as second films often are, was rounded upon by critics. I’ll agree that it’s no classic, but there’s enough fun here for a decent two hour movie.

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The Big Picture (l'Homme qui Voulait Vivre sa Vie) (3/10)

An improbable story told in a grandiose style when none was deserving, The Big Picture shows us what it’s like to completely change our lives. To dump everything and to start again with back-pocket cash in a country where you can’t speak the language sounds pretty difficult, does it not? Nah, it’s easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy, if you believe this French drama.

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