David Edelstein

Whedon's Touch Finds A Match With 'Much Ado'

David Edelstein — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:31:00 +0000

One word sums up my reaction to Joss Whedon's film of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing: Huzzah!

Here is the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — and the director of The Avengers — working with American TV actors who have little or no training in verse-speaking. Who could have predicted such a team would produce the best of all filmed Shakespeare comedies?

No, not the best filmed Shakespeare; there are plenty of more exciting Hamlets and Henry Vs and Richard IIIs.

Rediscover Your Inner Anarchist In The Anti-Corporate 'East'

David Edelstein — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:29:00 +0000

The second collaboration between writer-director Zal Batmanglij and actress and co-writer Brit Marling is called The East, which happens to be the name of the movie's anti-corporate terrorist cult. Marling plays Sarah, an agent who infiltrates the group. She doesn't work for the FBI. Her employer is a private security and intelligence firm run by the sleek, profit-oriented Sharon, played by Patricia Clarkson.

Two New Stories With A New-Wave Vibe

David Edelstein — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:01:00 +0000

Lately I've been re-watching vintage Truffaut movies, and I've been struck by the resurgent influence on American independent films of the French New Wave of the late '50s and '60s.

The Truffaut borrowings are fairly explicit in Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, while Richard Linklater's Before Midnight takes its cues from Eric Rohmer's gentle but expansive talkfests.

'Into Darkness,' Boldly And With A Few Twists

David Edelstein — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:16:00 +0000

Before I tell you about J.J. Abrams' second Star Trek film, with its youngish new Starship Enterprise crew, let me say that just because I've seen every episode of the original Star Trek and of The Next Generation, and most of the spinoff series, and every movie, I'm not a Trekkie — meaning someone who goes to conventions or speaks Klingon or greets people with a Vulcan salute.

But hey, even President Obama can give the Vulcan salute; it's mainstream. We live — thanks to the Internet — in a fan culture. We can all get up to speed on anything quickly.

'Iron Man 3': Tony Stark As Homebrew Hero

David Edelstein — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:41:00 +0000

The third time might be the charm for some things, but the number three after a movie title is typically shorthand for a deal with the devil.

The studio thinks there's more money to be squeezed from a particular property, and voila: Spider-Man 3, Superman III, The Godfather — God help us — Part III. OK, The Godfather's a special case. Most other threes, though, are what happens when a too-thin plot meets a too-fat budget.

Iron Man 3 conquers the curse of the 3 in a novel way: It pretty much takes Iron Man out of the equation.

Two Indie Directors Go Confidently Mainstream

David Edelstein — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:39:00 +0000

Studios are putting most of their eggs in $100 million baskets these days, even as American independent filmmakers go hungry from lack of mainstream attention. But two of my favorite American indie writer-directors, Jeff Nichols and Ramin Bahrani, have new films with bigger stars than they've had before — films they hope will break through to wider audiences. The results, at least artistically, are impressive.

Nichols' first feature, Shotgun Stories, was a small masterpiece, the story of a blood feud between half-brothers that turns tragic.

Tom Cruise's Latest Headed For 'Oblivion'

David Edelstein — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:03:00 +0000

Transcript

TERRY GROSS, HOST:

In December, Tom Cruise starred as the title character in the film "Jack Reacher." In "Oblivion," which opened on Friday, he plays another Jack, one of few humans left on an Earth devastated by an alien invasion. "Oblivion" is based on a graphic novel co-written by Joseph Kosinski, who went on to direct the film, and it costars Morgan Freeman and Melissa Leo.

Terrence Malick And Every Man's Journey 'To The Wonder'

David Edelstein — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:48:00 +0000

The voiceovers from Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, which has a lot of them, are intoned on the soundtrack while the characters stare into sunrises or sunsets — whenever the light is right, what cinematographers call, "the magic hour." This film and Malick's last, The Tree of Life, suggest that he's evolved into a blend of director and Christian minister: These are psalms writ on film.

Going 'Mental' And Enjoying The Ride

David Edelstein — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:57:00 +0000

Mental is madder than madcap. I heard one critic sniff, "It's kind of broad" — and, Your Honor, the defense agrees! But if broad means "unsubtle," it doesn't have to mean "unreal." Mental makes most other movies seem boringly, misleadingly sane.

Why "misleadingly"? Because writer-director P.J. Hogan aims for a tone that's more concentrated in its craziness — and thereby serves up more concentrated truths about human nature.

With Vengeance And Violence, 'Olympus Has Fallen' Flat

David Edelstein — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:59:00 +0000

What surprises me about the ongoing discussion of violence in cinema and whether it influences violence in the real world is how people fail to engage with the male fantasy behind these films. There's a template for them, a theme; it hinges on violation and vengeance. A seminal action picture of the last 50 years is 1988's Die Hard, in which a lone male cop operates behind the scenes after an ingeniously orchestrated foreign attack on American soil. He's symbolically emasculated — he has no gun or even shoes, his wife is now going by her maiden name.