Hollywood Buzz #188

O que se diz lá fora sobre SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, de David O. Russell:



«We're fully aware of the plot conventions at work here, the wheels and gears churning within the machinery, but with these actors, this velocity and the oblique economy of the dialogue, we realize we don't often see it done this well. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is so good, it could almost be a terrific old classic.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«Never one to shy away from unlikely sources of comedy, David O. Russell tackles mental illness, marital failure and the curative powers of football with bracingly sharp and satisfying results in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.»
Justin Chang, Variety.

«When one stops to consider how irksomely on the nose so much of this is, the qualities which intend to most readily ingratiate the film with us begin to appear perceptibly disingenuous and false.»
Calum Marsh, Slant Magazine.

«Cheerfully yet poignantly exposing the struggles, anxieties, disorders and obsessions of ordinary people, this is a film as odd as it is charming.»
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter.

«Family nuttiness, football madness, romantic obsession, and certifiable mental illness coexist happily in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK — a crazy beaut of a comedy that brims with generosity and manages to circumvent predictability at every turn.»
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.

Hollywood Buzz #187

O que se diz lá fora sobre LINCOLN, de Steven Spielberg:



«Rarely has a film attended more carefully to the details of politics.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«The result looks as much like a Natural History Museum diorama as it sounds: a respectful but waxy re-creation that feels somehow awe-inspiring yet chillingly lifeless to behold, the great exception being Jones' alternately blistering and sage turn as Stevens.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«Go see this movie. Take your children, even though they may occasionally be confused or fidgety. Boredom and confusion are also part of democracy, after all. Lincoln is a rough and noble democratic masterpiece - an omen, perhaps, that movies for the people shall not perish from the earth.»
A.O. Scott, The New York Times.

«Tony Kushner's densely packed script has been directed by Spielberg in an efficient, unpretentious way that suggests Michael Curtiz at Warner Bros. in the 1940s, right down to the rogue's gallery of great character actors in a multitude of bewhiskered supporting roles backing up a first-rate leading performance by Daniel Day-Lewis.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«The movie is grand and immersive. It plugs us into the final months of Lincoln's presidency with a purity that makes us feel transported as though by time machine.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

Hollywood Buzz #186

O que se diz lá fora sobre FLIGHT, de Robert Zemeckis:



«It is nearly flawless.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«Denzel Washington is aces as a commercial airline pilot who pulls off a miraculous mid-air stunt while flying with a 0.24 blood alcohol concentration, only to face his demons on the ground.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«This absorbing drama provides Denzel Washington with one of his meatiest, most complex roles, and he flies with it.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«FLIGHT opens with one of the most harrowing in-flight-disaster depictions of all time.»
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.

«Next to GUMP, the film has the moral force of a George Steiner essay, but what lends it that force are not the carefully calibrated moral ambiguities of the script, but the bruised, defiant soul that appears to us in the form of Denzel Washington.»
Tom Shone, The Guardian.

Hollywood Buzz #185

O que se diz lá fora sobre CLOUD ATLAS, de Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski e Lana Wachowski:



«It fascinates in the moment. It's getting from one moment to the next that is tricky. Surely this is one of the most ambitious films ever made.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«As inventive narratives go, there's outside the box, and then there's pioneering another dimension entirely, and this massive, independently financed collaboration among Tom Tykwer and Wachowski siblings Lana and Andy courageously attempts the latter.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«CLOUD ATLAS is certainly out to be a "visionary" mindbender, but the film's secret is that it's a nimbly entertaining and light-on-its-feet Hollywood contraption, with the actors cast in multiple roles as if playing a game of dress-up.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

«Not quite soaring into the heavens, but not exactly crash-landing either, CLOUD ATLAS is an impressively mounted, emotionally stilted adaptation of British author David Mitchell's bestselling novel.»
Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter.

«Tykwer and the Wachowskis' other twist on this karmic hokum — to cast each of their actors in multiple roles across the stories, regardless of age or race — is less successful.»
Henry Barnes, The Guardian.

Hollywood Buzz #184

O que se diz lá fora sobre ARGO, de Ben Affleck:



«ARGO the real movie about the fake movie, is both spellbinding and surprisingly funny.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«Ultimately, the thrill of ARGO is in watching how the illusion-making of movies found such an unlikely application on the world political stage, where the stakes were literally life and death.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«It's a doozy of a story and so borderline ridiculous that it sounds - ta-da! - like something that could have been cooked up only by Hollywood.»
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times.

«ARGO is never less than wildly entertaining, but a major part of its power is that it so ominously captures the kickoff to the world we're in now.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

«ARGO is a crackerjack political thriller told with intelligence, great period detail and a surprising amount of nutty humor for a serious look at the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

Hollywood Buzz #183

O que se diz lá fora sobre FRANKENWEENIE, de Tim Burton:



«This isn't one of Burton's best, but it has zealous energy. It might have been too macabre for kids in past, but kids these days, they've seen it all, and the charm of a boy and his dog retains its appeal.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«While FRANKENWEENIE is fun, it is not nearly strange or original enough to join the undead, monstrous ranks of the classics it adores.»
The New York Times, A.O. Scott.

«This beautifully designed canine-resurrection saga feels, somewhat fittingly, stitched together from stray narrative parts, but nonetheless evinces a level of discipline and artistic coherence missing from the director's recent live-action efforts.»
Justin Chang, Variety.

«FRANKENWEENIE is a cool little flipbook of historical Burtonian style. It even brings back old friends, including BEETLEJUICE's Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara.»
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.

«It is nonetheless imaginative in a highly familiar and ultimately tedious way.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

Hollywood Buzz #182

O que se diz lá fora sobre THE MASTER, de Paul Thomas Anderson:



«The writer-director's typically eccentric sixth feature is a sustained immersion in a series of hypnotic moods and longueurs, an imposing picture that thrillingly and sometimes maddeningly refuses to conform to expectations.»
Justin Chang, Variety.

«It is a movie about the lure and folly of greatness that comes as close as anything I've seen recently to being a great movie. There will be skeptics, but the cult is already forming. Count me in.»
A.O. Scott, The New York Times.

«Two things stand out: the extraordinary command of cinematic technique, which alone is nearly enough to keep a connoisseur on the edge of his seat the entire time, and the tremendous portrayals by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman of two entirely antithetical men.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«The themes may be contentious, but the handling is perfect. If there were ever a movie to cause the lame to walk and the blind to see, THE MASTER may just be it.»
Xan Brooks, The Guardian.

«Even amongst its most wrenching scenes of unfettered anger and broken loyalty, a volatile sensuality nonetheless invades every frame of Paul Thomas Anderson's arresting THE MASTER.»
Charlie Schmidilin, indieWIRE.

Hollywood Buzz #181

O que se diz lá fora sobre THE WORDS, de Brian Klugman e Lee Sternthal:



«Watching the movie, I enjoyed the settings, the periods and the acting. I can't go so far as to say I cared about the story, particularly after it became clear that its structure was too clever by half.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«A literary film that stands to work best for those who don't read, THE WORDS is a slick, superficially clever compendium of stories about authors of uncertain talent and varying success.»
Rob Nelson, Variety.

«A clever, entertaining yarn that doesn't bear close scrutiny.»
Stephen Holden, The New York Times.

«THE WORDS fails to surpass dramatically the bland lack of specificity in its title while still offering a solid roundup of performances from its talented ensemble cast.»
Todd Gilchrist, indieWIRE.

«The film folds narratives on top of narratives in a vain attempt to mask the fact that there's nothing to read between its graceless lines.»
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine.

Hollywood Buzz #180

O que se diz lá fora sobre LAWLESS, de John Hillcoat:



«LAWLESS is a well-made film about ignorant and violent people. Like the recent KILLER JOE, I can only admire this film's craftsmanship and acting, and regret its failure to rise above them.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«There are too many action-movie clichés without enough dramatic purpose, and interesting themes and anecdotes are scattered around without being fully explored. This is weak and cloudy moonshine: it doesn't burn or intoxicate.»
A.O. Scott, The New York Times.

«If LAWLESS doesn't achieve the mythic dimensions of the truly great outlaw and gangster movies, it is a highly entertaining tale set in a vivid milieu, told with style and populated by a terrific ensemble.»
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter.

«Hardy, speaking in low, flat, almost musically macho tones, has the bruiser charisma of a caveman Kevin Costner. It's not the money he's clinging to — it's the freedom.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

«LAWLESS offers a compelling, gruesome and instructive time-travel exercise.»
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com.

Hollywood Buzz #179

O que se diz lá fora sobre SIDE BY SIDE, de Christopher Kenneally:



«Although laid out with such clarity that any layperson could catch the gist of what's being discussed, SIDE BY SIDE is not afraid to get nitty-gritty about more technical matters.»
Leslie Felperin, Variety.

«Tracing the rise of digital movies via a wealth of charts, clips and candid testimonies, this Keanu Reeves-produced and narrated investigation offers a thorough analysis of what's very likely the most important cinematic development since the advent of sound.»
Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter.

«Produced by Keanu Reeves, this talking heads survey of the transition from shooting on film to digital video is against all odds an imminently watchable overview, and not only because Reeves has decent interview skills.»
Eric Kohn, indieWIRE.

«No true movie junkie is going to want to miss SIDE BY SIDE.»
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.

«A serviceable primer on the digital-celluloid divide in commercial cinema, if a bit unwieldy in scope and in danger of being made obsolete by the next version of the RED camera.»
Bill Weber, Slant Magazine.

Hollywood Buzz #178

O que se diz lá fora sobre COMPLIANCE, de Craig Zobel:



«In taut, gripping and deeply disturbing fashion, writer-director Craig Zobel measures the depths to which rational individuals will sink to obey a self-anointed authority figure in COMPLIANCE.»
Justin Chang, Variety.

«Confining extremes of human behavior to a single, drab room, COMPLIANCE, the squirmy sophomore feature from the writer and director Craig Zobel, is a slow-motion punch to the groin.»
Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times.

«Likely to spur discussions about workplace safety, employee rights and broader awareness of sexual predation, COMPLIANCE is also a suspenseful psychological drama for viewers prepared to tolerate its extremes.»
Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter.

«With a slow, relentless buildup focused on sexual humiliation, COMPLIANCE intensifies the "requests" put on Sandra, and eventually other employees, to behave immorally in the name of cooperation.»
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.

«It's a movie that must be seen, processed and discussed, perhaps the first of its kind to transform the audience into a focus group.»
Eric Kohn, indieWIRE.

Hollywood Buzz #177

O que se diz lá fora sobre THE BOURNE LEGACY, de Tony Gilroy:



«THE BOURNE LEGACY is always gripping in the moment. The problem is in getting the moments to add up.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«Subbing character actor Jeremy Renner into a franchise that requires Matt Damon-caliber magnetism, series scribe Tony Gilroy takes over the helming duties with an overlong sequel that features too little action and an unnecessarily complicated plot.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«It has plenty of energy and drive, and Jeremy Renner is really good, better as a Bourne-y agent than Matt Damon, tougher and more grizzled-looking, more convincing as the professional soldier who has grown careworn and disillusioned in the public service.»
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.

«The same tone and look are maintained, but the visceral excitement is muffled by familiarity, an insufficiently conceived lead character and the sheer weight of backstory and multiple layers of deception.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«Renner's Cross is a conflicted hero built to take advantage of the HURT LOCKER star's best qualities as an actor - his default intensity, the way he conveys that complicated mental calculations are taking place under cover of watchful stillness, even underwater.»
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.

Hollywood Buzz #176

O que se diz lá fora sobre TOTAL RECALL, de Len Wiseman:



«TOTAL RECALL is well-crafted, high energy sci-fi. Like all stories inspired by Philip K. Dick, it deals with intriguing ideas. It never touched me emotionally, though, the way the 1990 film did, and strictly speaking, isn't necessary.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«This premise contains the seeds of an interesting economic and political allegory, but the ambitions of the filmmakers lie in the direction of maximum noise and minimum sense.»
A.O. Scott, The New York Times.

«The outcome is engaging enough, although not entirely satisfying from either a genre or narrative standpoint, lacking both substance and a degree of imagination.»
Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter.

«This one is somberly kinetic and joyless.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

«TOTAL RECALL is a doggone good time, with a bunch of nifty technical and visual flourishes, competently managed plot twists and elegant, Wachowski-esque action choreography that eventually becomes deadening because there's just too much of it and it's dialed up too high.»
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com.

Hollywood Buzz #175

O que se diz lá fora sobre RUBY SPARKS, de Jonathan Dayton e Valerie Faris:



«The movie's intriguing in its fanciful way, and there are times when both Calvin and Ruby seem uncannily like they're undergoing revision at the hands of some uber-writer above them both.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«RUBY SPARKS doesn't try to pretend to be more than it is: a sleek, beautifully written and acted romantic comedy that glides down to earth in a gently satisfying soft landing.»
Stephen Holden, The New York Times.

«A beguiling romantic fantasy about the creative process and its potential to quite literally take on a life of its own, RUBY SPARKS performs an imaginative high-wire act with finesse and charm.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«RUBY SPARKS is a romantic comedy that takes off from a premise so fanciful it needs every bit of the freshness that Dano brings it.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

«It's mediocre and half-baked, with flashes of a potential good movie showing through here and there.»
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com.

Hollywood Buzz #174

O que se diz lá fora sobre THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, de Christopher Nolan:



«The film begins slowly with a murky plot and too many new characters, but builds to a sensational climax.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«While THE DARK KNIGHT RISES raises the dramatic stakes considerably, at least in terms of its potential body count, it doesn't have its predecessor's breathless sense of menace or its demonic showmanship, and with the exception of one audacious sleight-of-hand twist, the story can at times seem more complicated than intricate.»
Justin Chang, Variety.

«Believable and preposterous, effective as a closing chapter and somewhat of a letdown if only because Mr. Nolan, who continues to refine his cinematic technique, hasn't surmounted THE DARK KNIGHT or coaxed forth another performance as mesmerizingly vital as Heath Ledger's Joker in that film.»
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times.

«Makes everything in the rival Marvel universe look thoroughly silly and childish. Entirely enveloping and at times unnerving in a relevant way one would never have imagined, as a cohesive whole this ranks as the best of Nolan's trio, even if it lacks - how could it not? - an element as unique as Heath Ledger's immortal turn in THE DARK KNIGHT. It's a blockbuster by any standard.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«THE DARK KNIGHT RISES may be a hammy, portentous affair but Nolan directs it with aplomb. He takes these cod-heroic, costumed elements and whisks them into a tale of heavy-metal fury, full of pain and toil, surging uphill, across the flyovers, in search of a climax.»
Xan Brooks, The Guardian.

Hollywood Buzz #173

O que se diz lá fora sobre THE IMPOSTER, de Bart Layton:



«THE IMPOSTER makes slick work of its wily subject, using atmospheric reenactments and stark, soul-baring interviews to explore a mind-boggling case of false identity.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«One of the most entertaining documentaries to appear since EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, a film similarly obsessed with role playing and deception.»
Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times.

«The documentary equivalent of a page-turner.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

«A mesmerizing psychological thriller bulging with twists, turns, nasty insinuations and shocking revelations that might have leapt from the pages of a Patricia Highsmith novel, THE IMPOSTER is all the more astonishing because it actually happened.»
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter.

«The film shrewdly opts not to proffer its own hypothesis about the true reasons behind the Gibson family buying Frédéric Bourdin's story.»
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine.

Hollywood Buzz #172

O que se diz lá fora sobre SAVAGES, de Oliver Stone:



«A return to form for Stone's dark side, SAVAGES generates ruthless energy and some, but not too much, humor.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«SAVAGES never quite captures the novel's diamond-hard sarcasm, it offers other satisfactions in its visceral immediacy, its overriding sense of danger and a clutch of performances that, whatever one's reservations about the characters, can't help but court the viewer's emotional investment.»
Justin Chang, Variety.

«SAVAGES is a daylight noir, a western, a stoner buddy movie and a love story, which is to say that it is a bit of a mess. But also a lot of fun, especially as its pulp elements rub up against some gritty geopolitical and economic themes.»
A.O. Scott, The New York Times.

«SAVAGES represents at least a partial resurrection of the director's more hallucinatory, violent, sexual and, in a word, savage side.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«SAVAGES is Oliver Stone doing what he should have done a long time ago: making a tricky, amoral, down-and-dirty crime thriller that's blessedly free of any social, topical, or political relevance.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.

Hollywood Buzz #171

O que se diz lá fora sobre BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, de Benh Zeitlin:



«A stunning debut that finds its dandelion-haired heroine fighting rising tides and fantastic creatures in a mythic battle against modernity.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«This movie is a blast of sheer, improbable joy, a boisterous, thrilling action movie with a protagonist who can hold her own alongside Katniss Everdeen, Princess Merida and the other brave young heroines of 2012.»
A.O. Scott, The New York Times.

«The movie is small, local, and idiosyncratic. Then again, it's also a thing of beauty and originality - and for that, sustained huzzahs are in order.»
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.

«It's very much an art piece, to be sure, but it feels like a genuine one that, while meditated, speaks fluently and truly for the place, people and culture it so indelibly depicts.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

«If nothing else, this memorable effort eloquently displays Hushpuppy's fragile understanding of her world, where the only certainty is that nothing lasts forever. That makes BEASTS into a gigantic triumph even when it falls apart.»
Eric Kohn, indieWIRE.

Hollywood Buzz #170

O que se diz lá fora sobre BRAVE, de Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman e Steve Purcell:



«This is a great-looking movie, much enlivened by the inspiration of giving Merida three small brothers, little redheaded triplets.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«BRAVE offers a tougher, more self-reliant heroine for an era in which princes aren't so charming, set in a sumptuously detailed Scottish environment where her spirit blazes bright as her fiery red hair.»
Peter Debruge, Variety.

«The tussling between Elinor and Merida is familiar, but while the mother-daughter clashes may make the story "relatable," they drain it of its mythopoetic potential, turning what could have been a cool postmodern fairy tale into another family melodrama.»
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times.

«Merida may be a headstrong heroine, a feisty animated hybrid who calls to mind Katniss Everdeen, Bella Swan, and the neo-fairy-tale protagonist who faces off against her evil stepmother in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. But she is also, for safety's sake, a nice girl in a pretty green dress who loves her family and believes in dynasty.»
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.

«Visually stunning and strongly voiced, but doesn't take any real risks.»
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter.

Hollywood Buzz #169

O que se diz lá fora sobre ROCK OF AGES, de Adam Shankman:



«The only problem is that the plot meanders when nobody is singing. If you're making the kind of movie where everybody in the audience knows for sure what's going to happen, it's best not to linger on the recycled bits.»
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

«Absent the infectious live-audience energy of Chris D'Arienzo's legit hit, this affectionate glam-rock-a-thon reps a visually bland staging of frankly insipid material, never tapping into the raucous, go-for-broke energy that would spin the show's cliches into gold, let alone platinum.»
Justin Chang, Variety.

«It looks like Disneyland and sounds, well, like a bad Broadway musical, with all the power belting and jazz-hand choreography that implies.»
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times.

«He (Shankman) succeeds in draining most of the fun from a vehicle that was all about the winking humor of its flagrant cheesiness.»
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter.

«Most of the numbers in ROCK OF AGES are flatly shot and choreographed, and they look as if they'd been edited together with a meat cleaver. With rare exceptions, they don't channel the excitement of the music — they stultify it.»
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.