LFF ’09 Review: ‘Up in the Air’

Oliver Lyttelton — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:46:00 +0000

Since the moment the film premiered at Telluride back at the beginning of September, the buzz has been building and building on “Up in the Air,” director Jason Reitman’s follow-up to the Oscar nominated “Juno.” The film got mostly rave reviews, both there and at Toronto (although our correspondent was a little cooler on it than some), and is now a front runner in this year’s Oscar race. It showed at the London Film Festival on Sunday night, with Reitman and stars Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick in attendance.

Continue reading LFF ’09 Review: ‘Up in the Air’ at The Playlist.

‘Be Kind Rewind’: Incredibly Silly, Heavily Flawed But Charming Paean To The DIY Spirit

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:53:00 +0000

Michel Gondry’s “Be Kind Rewind” is a curious and strange film insofar that its greatest strengths – his fierce imagination – become its biggest weakness here. Let’s start off with Emmanuel Levy’s mostly-apt synopsis. “Arguably the weakest and silliest of Gondry’s films, this one-note comedy is basically a short stretched to the limits of a feature-length movie that even reliable pros like Jack Black can’t rescue.”

This mostly nails it except that it’s not “arguably” Gondry’s weakest film, it’s easily his weakest, Jack Black is certainly not a “reliable pro” (more like a tired, one trick pony) and yet ‘Rewind’s does skate by a little bit on its charms and sincerity.

Continue reading ‘Be Kind Rewind’: Incredibly Silly, Heavily Flawed But Charming Paean To The DIY Spirit at The Playlist.

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LFF ’09 Review: ‘Up in the Air’

‘Be Kind Rewind’: Incredibly Silly, Heavily Flawed But Charming Paean To The DIY Spirit