Film
The Eyes Have It
The Carpenter Center film festival on Saturday will showcase 50 years of Visual and Environmental Studies concentrators' work.
“Upstream Color” Goes Against The Current
“Upstream Color” comes to us after a nine-year gap from director Shane Carruth’s first film, full of stunning visuals and a deeply puzzling plot. Despite the jumbled and disjointed narrative, the cinematography is so beautifully done that it makes the film a pleasure to watch, if not to understand.
Visuals Breathe Life into “Oblivion”
While “Oblivion” succeeds artistically and features a strong cast, its writing occasionally borders on being overly sentimental and fails to take the film’s unique premise towards a strong conclusion. The film touches briefly on themes such as individuality and free will, but brushes by them on the way to visually satisfying scenes.
"Company" An Uneventful Affair
Despite his own star power and screen presence, Robert Redford's most recent film fizzles due to a lack of focus or captivating action. Redford is the most interesting part of the film, and he greatly outshines his costars like Shia LaBeouf. "The Company You Keep" skirts around its most compelling questions and comes out fairly unentertaining.
"42" Covers Its Bases
Brian Helgeland's latest is a Jackie Robinson biopic starring Chadwick Boseman, chronicling the baseball legend's experience as he broke the color barrier in baseball. While Boseman delivers a powerful performance, whenever Helgeland steps away from the baseball field, the film tends to oversimplify its characters and relationships to a fault.
Nair Reveals Challenges of Producing "The Reluctant Fundamentalist”
“This is the most difficult film I have ever made,” Nair said.
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Director Mira Nair '79 converses with Harvard professor Homi K. Bhabha after a screening of her film, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." The film, shown at The Brattle Theater Wednesday night, was followed by a Q&A in which Nair discussed the soundtrack, inspiration, and takeaway of the film, which explores US-Pakistani relations.
“Evil Dead” A Shallow Tour de Gore
Fede Alvarez revisits a cult classic and a monumental film in the horror genre with "Evil Dead," a remake of the 1981 "The Evil Dead." Alvarez's film is filled with visually rich terrors that the original cannot match, but "Evil Dead" is nowhere near as novel or important for the genre.
Working in the Wrong Dimension
Hollywood has recently taken an interest in re-releasing old favorites in 3D, but this is a misstep. 3D has proven itself as a powerful cinematic tool, yet it is often used as little more than a promotional tool. Much of the success of the recent re-releases is due to the audience's nostalgia for the films, not the fact that the films are now in 3D.
"Pines" Stylish but Confused
"The Place Beyond the Pines" is Derek Cianfrance's second collaboration with Ryan Gosling, after 2010's "Blue Valentine." "Pines" struggles to hold together the disparate segments of its story, and it is only Cianfrance's strong sense of directorial style that redeems the film.
"Pines" Reaches Beyond the Script
Director Derek Cianfrance and his cast, which includes Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes, describe the process of filming "The Place Beyond The Pines," focusing on the importance of the setting and the process of forming each character's persona. The film's title refers to the city of Schenectady, where the story is set.
