Film & TV
Philly Does Film
Due to funding issues, Cinefest, Philadelphia’s annual 12-day film festival, was cancelled back in January.
Dragon Training Wheels
Children’s movies are now more adult-friendly than every before, and How to Train Your Dragon continues this favorable trend.
Semi-Perfect Getaway
3 Stars Directed by: Raymond De Felitta Starring: Andy Garcia, Alan Arkin, Emily Mortimer Rated PG-13, 100 min. A charming movie about a dysfunctional family from a fishing village in the Bronx, City Island is a quintessential low-budget delight.
Stay Out Of The Hot Tub
2 Stars Directed by: Steve Pink Starring: John Cusack, Rob Corddry Rated R, 100 min. Sometimes, all you want to do is see a movie that doesn’t require too much thinking.
Guilty Pleasure: Riki-Oh: The Story Ricky (1991)
You have a knife. The other guy doesn’t. How do you kill him? That’s right, cut open your stomach and strangle him with your own intestines (because that makes sense). In the near future (i.e.
Penn In Hollywood
The lights of Hollywood may be a far cry from our West Philly campus, but that hasn’t stopped Penn alumni from diving into every part of the film industry.
Men Of The Future
We all know the drill — if you can’t make the monthly payments on your car, the bank takes your car back.
Mother Dearest
In Bong Joon-ho’s satirical masterpiece The Host, a giant monster wrecks havoc on a Korean city.
(Not) Best Foreign Film
Last year, many film lovers were outraged that the Swedish vampire masterpiece Let the Right One In didn’t score an Academy Award nomination for “Best Foreign Language Film.” However, Oscar voters were not to blame.
Guilty Pleasure: The First Wives Club (1996)
Some people find it bizarre that a film following three middle-aged divorcees as they plot revenge on their ex-husbands ranks among my favorites.
The Wild Ones
For many, The Runaways will present itself as the perfect opportunity to ogle Dakota Fanning as the sexed-up version of her former child star self.
Climbing The North Face
For a film based on the well-known attempt by a set of climbers to scale the north face of the Eiger in 1936, the German-made thriller North Face perfects the art of the cliffhanger (literally) — even for an audience aware of the ultimate historical outcome. From the moment the main characters Toni Kurz (Benno Furmann) and Andi Hintertoisser (Florian Lukas) — two Nazi soldiers who prefer pitons over pistols — approach the deathly Eiger, director Philipp Stolzl crafts the story of the climber’s ascent with visual and emotional precision. With the group of climbers clinging to a mass of rock by the most inconsequential of steel and rope, dodging avalanches and taking a frostbitten beating from the fickle weather, Stolzl brings the audience to the mountain, piecing together the infamous story in the process. This becomes most evident in the scenes off the mountain; where the storyline strays from original accounts of the expedition, it struggles the most.
Forgotten By The Academy
Each year as Oscar nominations are announced, worthy candidates are inevitably left off the nominations shortlist.
Defibrillator: "Heavenly Creatures" (1994)
The name Peter Jackson is synonymous with fantasy, thanks to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this has not always been the case.
The Art Of The Documentary
Street chatted with The Art of the Steal director Don Argott and producer Sheena M. Joyce.
City Of Brotherly Theft?
According to Don Argott’s riveting documentary The Art of the Steal, one of the biggest thefts of recent memory was conducted not by masked men with guns, but by Philadelphia’s own elected officials.
Written In The Stars
Roman Polanski has directed yet another cinematic success with The Ghost Writer, a political thriller — and adaptation of Robert Harris’s book of the same name — that acutely delves into the lives of its high-powered characters, isolated from their country and the rest of the world on a secluded, bleak and wintry Massachusetts island compound.
Defibrillator: "Taxi Driver" (1976)
A few years ago, I watched Raging Bull on a whim. Having finally appreciated a movie not starring Will Ferrell, I vowed to make my way through the rest of Martin Scorsese’s greatest hits.
Spread The Message
After garnering Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay, fall release The Messenger is returning to theaters this week.
