Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for August, 2011

“BUSKING THE SYSTEM”: Playing for life

Posted in Art house fare, Documentaries, tagged , , , on August 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

Kansas Citian Phillip Bradley is one of the subjects of "Busking the System," a documentary about musicians playing in NYC's subways

“BUSKING THE SYSTEM” My rating: C+  (Opening Aug. 19 at the Screenland Crown Center)

80 minutes | No MPAA rating

An art form? An irritation? Begging with a fancy label? Or perhaps just a legitimate expression of personal thoughts and impulses?

However you view it, busking — performing in public places for contributions from the crowd — is a fact of life in NYC, especially down on the subway platforms.

Justin Morales’ documentary “Busking the System” follows several aspiring buskers (two with Kansas City connections) to the Big Apple where they try their hands at playing their music for crowds of commuters and tourists.

It’s not an easy gig, despite efforts in recent years by the subway authority to legitimize busking by holding auditions with the winning acts getting the most visible locations and time slots.

Among the subjects of this likable but unremarkable documentary are Phillip Bradley, a Kansas City singer/songwriter/guitarist, and Nathan Corsi, a native of Akron, Ohio, whose family has since relocated to KC.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

The best movie-going month of the year is…August?!?!?

Posted in Deep thoughts...maybe, KC Film Scene on August 18, 2011| 3 Comments »

Generally speaking, August sucks.

It’s hot and humid. My lawn dies.

But August does have one thing going for it. It’s the best month of the year for watching movies.

Granted, this wasn’t planned. In fact, it’s kind of like one of those experiments where a lab geek is trying to develop a new hemorrhoidal jelly and ends up discovering a cure for cancer.

If you’re into big, expensive (and dumb) popcorn pictures, you might want to stick to May, June and July.

If your taste runs to portentous Oscar hopefuls then November and December will be your months.

August is my favorite movie month by default.

It just sort of happened. I realized that so far this month we’ve seen the debuts of “Another Earth,” “Sarah’s Key,” “The Help,” “One Day” and “The Trip.”  Not to mention “Crazy Stupid Love,” “Project Nim,” and “The Double Hour,” all of which opened on July 29 and so in a sense are actually August releases.

In some months I wait in vain to see even one reasonably smart film. That’s not a problem in August.

That’s because Hollywood views August as the dog’s-ass end of the movie year. The big summer releases have already opened. The kids are getting ready for school and won’t be packing the megaplexes any more.

And so by default August has become the month when the industry unloads all the films they weren’t sure how to market, the films in which they have no faith.

The serious dramas. Movies with downbeat elements. Smart films. Subtitled films.

In other words, good films.

So, thank you, August. And thank you, Hollywood, even though you had no idea what you were doing.

| Robert W. Butler

Read Full Post »

“Pawn’s Move” ready for its closeup

Posted in KC Film Scene on August 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Tyler Roberds in "Pawn's Move"

Local filmmaker Caleb Vetter will premiere his second feature, “Pawn’s Move,” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, at the Palazzo 16 Theater, 135th and Metcalf.

Admission is $6.

Written by northeast Missouri screenwriter Kim P. Wells, “Pawn’s Move” is about a shy young man who inherits from his boss, the late proprietor of an antique story, an item worth several million dollars.

With his life turned around and pursued by a money-hungry young woman, our hero relocates to another town where he encounters an equally shy girl with a clouded past. They’re brought together by chess and faith.

“Pawn’s Move” was produced by CV Productions, Vetter’s faith-based film company, and stars Tyler Roberds, Jami Harris and Sheena Pena.

The film will be shown at the upcoming Kansas International Film Festival (KIFF) at the Glenwood Arts, and at the Marantha International Christian Film Festival. At the Bare Bones International Film Festival it was named Best Family Film and took home the Audience Choice award for best feature.

Vetter’s previous feature was “Anyone Accept David.” He also worked on the sound for the locally-lensed “Works in Progress.”

For more information visit the film’s web site at  www.pawnslinkthemovie.com.

Read Full Post »

“ANOTHER EARTH” : World-crossed lovers

Posted in Art house fare, Deep thoughts...maybe, tagged , on August 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“ANOTHER EARTH”  My rating: B+  (Opening Aug. 12 at the Tivoli and Glenwood)

92 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

The unassuming, modestly budgeted “Another Earth” offers the best of both worlds.

It works wonderfully as a piece of speculative fantasy fiction;  it’s equally effective as a moving human drama.

Here we’ve a film that grabs you while you’re watching it and keeps you talking about it long after the lights come up.

Basically we have two stories, one playing out in the public arena and the other in the intensely private.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

“THE HELP”: Sweet potato pie with a side of Jim Crow

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , , , , , , on August 11, 2011| 8 Comments »

Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis in "The Help"

“THE HELP”  My rating: B+  (Now playing wide)

137 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

You can’t throw a rock at “The Help” without hitting an Oscar-worthy performance, making this adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s best-seller one of the best-acted films since, well, “The King’s Speech.”

All that thespian power comes in handy in diverting our attention from some of the story’s more Hollywood-ish plotting and an unimaginative visual style.

OK, maybe I’m being too much of a critic here. There may be a few pedestrian elements in this sure-fire box office smash, but there’s no ignoring the pure emotional power of this story set in the Jim Crow South.

This is a movie that will set audiences to laughing, then bawling, then laughing and bawling all over again.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

DVD reviews: Freedom fighters, Cossacks and the addled rich

Posted in New on DVD, tagged , , , , , , on August 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“OUTSIDE THE LAW” (Now available)

The latest from French/Algerian filmmaker Rachid  Bouchareb takes the same three Algerian brothers featured in his sweeping WW2 yarn “Days of Glory” and plops them down in post-war France, where they become urban terrorists on behalf of their homeland’s independence movement.

The oldest, Messaoud (Roschdy Zem), is a former French soldier who returns from the Indochina debacle missing an eye. He hopes to marry, settle down and never again raise a weapon.

Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila), the intellectual, has spent years in a jail for his opposition to French colonialism. He’s a particularly dangerous sort — an doctrinaire revolutionary (think Robespierre) who loves ideology but apparently has little use for people. He doesn’t think twice about ordering the murders of those who disagree with him politically — even family members.

Baby brother Said (Jamel Debbouze) is apolitical. He gets involved in the Parisian crime scene, runs a nightclub and wants only to be left alone to make money.

Bouchareb’s epic tale,  nominated for a foreign language Oscar, has stirred controversy in France, (more…)

Read Full Post »

Big screen, small screen, KC screen

Posted in Uncategorized on August 9, 2011| 2 Comments »

On the set of CinemaKC...

If you love film you can’t afford NOT to watch”CinemaKC,” the homegrown half-hour TV program that spotlights area filmmakers.

The show’s production values are terrifically high — even though just about everyone involved is working for free — and the locally-made short films exhibited are really, REALLY impressive.

Turns out our town has cinematic talent to burn.

Problem is, “CinemaKC” is aired late on Saturday night…not exactly a primo time slot.

Worse, often it wasn’t there when it was supposed to be. (more…)

Read Full Post »

News: Local filmmaker gets good news

Posted in Uncategorized on August 6, 2011| 4 Comments »

Aspiring KC auteur Paula Smith is on a roll.

This week she learned that her screenplay “Caruso and the Sword” was one of only 351  out of nearly 7,000 entries to be named a quareterfinalist of the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, a program of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Now her script will be read by at least two judges; if it makes the cut it will be one of 120 scripts that make it to the semifinal round.

More good news: The “Caruso” screenplay is a finalist in the “From the Heart Productions” grant competition. From the Heart  is a nonprofit organization that annually awards grants to films that are “unique and make a contribution to society.”

“Caruso and the Sword” is about a young teen taken with the sport of fencing and must deal with bullies, poor grades, parental objections and low self esteem if he’s to qualify for the Summer Nationals, the largest fencing tournament in the world.

| Robert W. Butler

Read Full Post »

“BRIDE FLIGHT” : Suds down South

Posted in Art house fare, tagged , on August 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Waldemar Torenstra and Anna Drijver in "Bride Flight"

“BRIDE FLIGHT” My rating: C+ (Opening Aug. 5 at the Glenwood at Red Bridge)

130 minutes | MPAA rating: R

The Kiwi entry “Bride Flight” is less an art film than a romance with grand ambitions.

Unspooling over four decades, this effort from director Ben Sombogaart and writer Marieke van der Pol follows three women and one man from the Netherlands who in the years after World War II attempt to rebuild their lives as emigres to New Zealand.

In a prologue we meet Frank (Rutger Hauer), operator of one of New Zealand’s most successful vineyards. The old fellow dies of a heart attack and word goes out for his loved ones to gather for a sendoff.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

“THE TRIP” : Eat. Do impression. Repeat.

Posted in Art house fare, tagged , , , on August 5, 2011| 1 Comment »

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take "The Trip"

“THE TRIP” My rating: B (Opening Aug.  5 at the Tivoli and Rio)

101 minutes | No MPAA rating

“The Trip” seems a very casual, largely improvised movie — the sort of thing the British refer to as a “toss off.”

Certainly it appears a lightweight affair to bear the name of director Michael Winterbottom, whose output (“Welcome to Sarajevo,” “The Claim,” “24 Hour Party People,” “A Mighty Heart”) trends toward the heavily meaningful.

But don’t let its shaggy-dog demeanor fool you. Despite its simplistic setup, this is one extremely clever and entertaining film. Heck, it even has moments of depth. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »