usherontheaisle Reviews

The Time Being (2012)

An Artist's Journey

[7/10 · 13 September 2012]

Another masterful performance by stage and screen veteran Frank Langella, anchors this visually sumptuous but remote depiction of the relationship that begins when a selfish dying man hires a young struggling artist (Wes Bentley) for a series of enigmatic video assignments. A dull actor with intense eyes, Bentley brings very little energy to his role as a neglectful father and husband consumed by his love for the canvas. As a result, the drama remains tentative until the emotional heart of the film, a character played by Sarah Paulson,arrives towards the finale. The culminating set piece, involving Langella's final gift to his family is devastating in its emotional power and visual simplicity, but over all the film feels more of a cinematic exercise than a satisfying dramatic story.

The Rendezvous (2010)

Triumph in Toronto!!!

[10/10 · 21 August 2011]

After its roaring success in Zurich, this sleeper hit continues to spellbind viewers as it finally arrives in Toronto, the city where it was made but does not take place in. Canadian audiences have been most receptive to this intimate drama, whose charming characters awkwardly reveal their mutual attraction and insecurities, as they try to understand each other's place in the world. Truninger and Ritzmann have cleverly honed in on the flaws of Noonan's original script, bringing a new warmth to the story without sacrificing the promise of dark secrets that linger in the air. One can only hope that this modest yet engaging film will receive the worldwide release that it so clearly deserves.

The Ward (2010)

Carpenter's Comeback

[7/10 · 20 September 2010]

Yet another summing up project from Master of Horror John Carpenter. This time he's revisiting the hospital killing ground of Halloween 2, without the much missed Donald Pleasence to anchor the story. Confidently directed by Carpenter, after nearly a decade away from feature films, and well-acted by its young cast, the film is nevertheless most enjoyable for its small pleasures, especially the use of 1966 as a period setting. The cruder approach to psychology during this era infects the film at every level, from the memorable credits sequence, to the primitive yet threatening art direction of the mental ward where most of the action takes place. Keeping the gore up to his usual standards, and employing his standard bag of "cheap tricks" to make the audience jump, Carpenter delivers an efficient slasher film whose unpretentious approach to its core issues of sanity vs. insanity prove much more satisfying than the dead end resolution of the recently similar mental hospital thriller, SHUTTER ISLAND.

Amigo (2010)

Fighting the Good Fight!

[9/10 · 15 September 2010]

John Sayles is the heart and soul of independent liberal filmmaking in the U.S. and he has triumphed once again with this small scale historical drama. Impeccably cast and masterfully written, Sayles only disappoints with his budgetary mandated use of digital cinematography. The sharp bright images of the film make one long for the warm celluloid grain of his frequent camerman Haskell Wexler. The Philippine/American War has hardly been touched by Hollywood except for THE REAL GLORY (1939), a flag waving whitewash of a controversial foreign incursion. Sayles is here to set the record straight and in this ambitious tale of a village invaded by naive American soldiers, he illuminates and entertains with his typically humanistic eye for people of all cultures, and the dark imperialistic inclinations of Western democracies.