TheDeadGirl Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 3/3
Filed under: New Releases », DVD Reviews », New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
Australia
This felt like it would be one of those epic films that came, saw, and conquered. In the past, Baz Luhrman has made some impressive shows, from star-crossed lovers to sexy dancing and pop tunes, but Australia never knew what it wanted to be, and suffered for it. As JMA wrote in his review: "It's too bad that he had to waste the all-encompassing title Australia on such a mixed mess." Skip it on DVD and Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jeffrey M. Anderson's Review
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Where one like Australia fizzled, Beverly Hills Chihuahua shocked even Eric D. Snider: "[it] isn't the braying, garish nightmare that the trailers make it out to be, or that we've come to expect from Disney's live-action-excrement factory." Rent it on DVD and Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Eric D. Snider's Review
Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective
I can only hope that this film isn't the first in a long line of comedic offspring: Zoolander: Mini Male Models, Step Brothers: When Kids are Kids. Unsurprisingly, Cinematical never reviewed this gem of a film, but you can read through our news about it here. Skip it.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
Right in time for the long-awaited release of Watchmen, we're getting the complete motion comic. Now this isn't an entirely animated film, but rather the comic amped up with some movement and a voiceover. DVD Talk says: "these motion comics offer up a unique presentation of the material that is just about as faithful as anything short of a reprint could be, while still offering something new." But there are faults, like Tom Stechschulte voicing ALL of the characters, even the women, but it still looks worthwhile. Rent it on DVD and Blu-ray.
Buy at Amazon
Review: The Dead Girl
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Thrillers », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
We hear it on the news twice a week, it seems: A young dead woman has been found on the road, in a ditch, back behind someone's barn, etc. We give the news a casual listen, perhaps offer a brief bit of sympathy to the girl's family, and then throw our focus back into our own lives. The world can be an ugly place; best not to dwell on the more horrific aspects of it ... until we have to.
Karen Moncrieff's follow-up to 2002's Blue Car is a decidedly unique take on the "serial killer movie." The Dead Girl is not a mystery, nor is it really a thriller. It's more of an anthology piece that introduces us to a collection of people on the periphery of a horrible murder. It's not a movie about the killer, per se, nor is it a character study of the victim ... except when it is. It's a tough movie to describe, a tougher movie to "enjoy," but an easy one to recommend -- provided you don't mind a little darkness, gloom and sobriety mixed in with your indie-style ensemble pieces.
Awards Watch: Smells Like Indie Spirit
Filed under: Awards », For Your Consideration », Hold the 'Fone »
Hey movie fans, it's Sandie here to bring you the first of many awards-related posts. The nominees for the Spirit Awards -- formerly known as the Independent Spirit Awards -- were announced today, and the dysfunctional-family dramedy 'Little Miss Sunshine' and gritty relationship-drama 'Half Nelson' lead with five nominations a piece. This is particularly amusing to our team, because four of us here at Hold the 'Fone have been debating (OK, arguing really) which movie is better since we saw them both at Sundance in January. Two of us are firmly in the 'Sunshine' camp and two in the 'Nelson,' but we haven't gone so far as designing "Team ______" shirts ... yet. Alas, the Spirit Award nominations have done absolutely nothing to settle the score.
As it stands, the nominees for Best Feature are: 'Half Nelson'; 'Little Miss Sunshine'; 'American Gun'; the tale of three communities touched by gun violence; 'The Dead Girl,' a crime drama about the female victims of a serial killer; and 'Pan's Labyrinth,' which truth be told, all of us agree is one of the best movies of the year, so perhaps we should forget the Sundance-flick rivalry and root for Guillermo del Toro's Spanish-language fantasy masterpiece instead.
The Best Male Lead category is, in my mind anyway, Ryan Gosling's to lose for his "flawless performance" (Maggie Gyllenhaal's words, not mine) as a junkie junior-high teacher in 'Half Nelson.' His competitors, however, are nearly as impressive: Aaron Eckhart as a fast-talking tobacco lobbyist in 'Thank You for Smoking'; Edward Norton as an uptight scientist in the period drama 'The Painted Veil'; Ahmad Razvi as a Pakistani immigrant in 'Man Push Cart'; and the always amazing Forest Whitaker as a driven inner-city principal in 'American Gun.'Not only was Gosling recognized, but so was his young co-star, Shareeka Epps, who is a Best Female Lead nominee for her heart-wrenching portrayal of a middle-schooler who gets emotionally attached to her crack-addicted teacher. Her fellow nominees are Catherine O'Hara as an Oscar-obsessed C-lister in 'For Your Consideration'; Elizabeth Reaser as a 1920s immigrant in 'Sweet Land'; Michelle Williams in the Wim Wenders drama 'Land of Plenty' and Robin Wright Penn for her bitter TV exec in 'Sorry, Haters.' Have to admit that I'm a bit dumbstruck that Maggie didn't score a nod for 'Sherrybaby': a. She's the indie "It Girl" b. The film debuted at Sundance and c. It stars Gyllenhaal as a hedonistic ex-convict mama trying to reconnect with her young daughter. If that doesn't merit a Spirit Award, what is the indie world coming to?
Want to see who else was nominated? Get the complete list of Spirit Award nominees.
And if you're now in the mood for a fix of good indie films, check out our Independent Film Guide, where you'll find reviews of nearly all the nominated actors and films.
Tags: Spirit Awards, Little Miss Sunshine, Half Nelson, American Gun, Ryan Gosling, Paul Dano, Channing Tatum, indie movies, movie awards
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