bestnom1000x50
All Authors >

BRETT MICHEL

Latest Articles

mcelwee_interview

Ross McElwee and son look back

Time machine
The films of Harvard professor Ross McElwee serve as an intimate, ongoing first-person document of his life, so I was somewhat surprised when he preferred answering questions about Photographic Memory , his ninth feature-length documentary, via email.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  November 16, 2012
movie_photographicmemory

Review: Photographic Memory


Near the conclusion of Ross McElwee's 1993 film, Time Indefinite , we witnessed the birth of his son, Adrian.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  November 12, 2012
benshi_film_hfa

Review: Ichiro Kataoka, Benshi

Sounds of silents  
During their 2004 centennial celebration of Yasujiro Ozu, the Harvard Film Archive hosted Midori Sawato, one of a handful of silent-film narrators, or benshi, still active in Japan.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  November 12, 2012
talesofthenight

Review: Tales of the Night


In an abandoned cinema, an old technician assists a young couple in acting out stories spanning cultures and centuries: from medieval Europe, across the African plains, to Tibet, through an Aztec kingdom, and even a Caribbean-flavored Land of the Dead.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  November 08, 2012
wreckitralph

Review: Wreck-It Ralph


John C. Reilly gives a terrific vocal performance in this computer-animated look at the secret lives of video game arcade characters (like Tron by way of Toy Story ), directed by Rich Moore, a veteran helmer of The Simpsons and Futurama .
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  October 31, 2012
film_silenthill_3d

Review: Silent Hill: Revelations 3D


Silent Hill fans are gluttons for punishment.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  October 31, 2012
conned_list

Review: Conned (2010)


"What is this, some kinda' fuckin' joke?" These are the first words uttered in writer/director Arthur Luhn's homegrown comedy.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  October 18, 2012
ShortTake_Taken2

Review: Taken 2


Retired CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is still trying to remain an active part of the lives of his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  October 10, 2012
short take_butter

Review: Butter


Any real-world comparisons between the Sarah Palin-like Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner) and her African-American opponent, Destiny (Yara Shahidi), are encouraged in this over-churned movie that presents itself as a "cutthroat story of greed, blackmail, sex, and butter."
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  October 11, 2012
ShortTake:How To Survive A Plague

Review: How to Survive a Plague


In 1987, 26-year-old Peter Staley, a closeted Wall Street trader, was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Given less than two years to live, he addressed the International AIDS Conference . . . three years later. He's still alive.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  October 02, 2012
ShortTake:SolomonKane

Review: Solomon Kane


The last time Pete Postlethwaite died onscreen, he was being gunned down in The Town .
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  October 02, 2012
vulgaria_list

Review: Vulgaria


"Your attention please," announces a voiceover at the start of the new movie from Pang Ho-Cheung.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 25, 2012
prks-of-being-a-wallflower_list

Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower


"Just smile and be yourself," advises Charlie's naïve dad. "That's how you make friends in the real world."
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 25, 2012
house-at-the-end_list

Review: House at the End of the Street


A project that's been around the block, Mark Tonderai's horror thriller was slated to go into production nearly a decade ago, with Jonathan Mostow (Breakdown) attached to direct.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 25, 2012
vreeland_list

Review: Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel


Legendary Harper's Bazaar fashion editor Diana Vreeland (1903-1989) was the inspiration for both the Maggie Prescott character in 1957's Funny Face and Miss Maxwell in 1966's Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 25, 2012
FILM_ShortTake_Ambassador

Review: The Ambassador

Raoul Duke by way of Borat
Mads Cortzen is a diplomat on a mission.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 18, 2012
for-ellen2_list

Review: For Ellen

A man/child gets a brief taste of adult responsibility
Barely visible in a close-up behind the wheel of his car until the flame from his lighter illuminates his angular profile, floundering rocker Joby Taylor (Paul Dano) promptly spins into a snow bank. It's going to be that kind of trip.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 18, 2012
reg_1024.evil_list

Review: Resident Evil: Retribution

Creative bankruptcy
Uwe Boll gets most of the scorn, but has anyone done more to destroy hope of a decent movie being made from a video game than Paul W.S. Anderson?
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 18, 2012
short-take-dredd_list

Review: Dredd 3D

Slow-mo blow-ups
Johnny Knoxville and his merry band of Jackasses were on to something when they shot their last movie in 3D; their formula of slow-motion + stereoscopic imaging was just about the greatest thing ever.
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 20, 2012
short-takes-short-take-cold-light_list

Review: The Cold Light of Day

Mabrouk El Mechri's latest film
What I learned from the latest movie from Mabrouk El Mechri ( JCVD ): Madrid's police only work during the daytime, when they're everywhere (in the morning, they seem to be the only people on the streets).
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 11, 2012
short-take-2016Di_list

Review: 2016: Obama's America

Not much of a movie or a documentary
Walking into Dinesh D'Souza and John Sullivan's political hatchet job, I overheard a woman exiting an earlier showing, breathlessly informing someone on her cell phone that "it's not a movie — it's a documentary!"
By: BRETT MICHEL  |  September 05, 2012
<< first  ...< prev  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |   next >...  last >>

2 of 16 (results 301)

Most Popular
Blogs
 More: Phlog  |  Music  |  Film  |  Books  |  Politics  |  Media  |  Election '08  |  Free Speech  |  All Blogs
CURRENT CONTESTS
 All Promotions . . .