In The Player, the wonderfully dark 1992 comedy about the movie business, an aspiring screenwriter takes to task Tim Robbins, who plays a fast-talking and stoic Hollywood producer. “You would probably even give The Bicycle Thief a happy ending,” the writer says, scolding Tim Robbins for the tenancy of Hollywood to turn even the most […]
Film
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A Horse, Of Course
Like reality TV, but for horses, Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies, is a remarkable and gripping hour-long documentary about Cloud, a wild stallion who has been chronicled since his birth in the Rockies in 1995. The footage is beautiful, with swooping aerial shots and hoof-pounding on the ground close-ups, that brings an intimacy to […]
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Family Ties, French-fried
The Past is a great film, but could use a therapist
The Past is a French film populated by Ahmad, a mopey but kind Iranian man; his soon-to-be ex-wife, a smolderingly beautiful and tense French woman; her teenage kid from some off-screen lover and a second child from another man, her morose lover; and his curly haired troubled son. But even with that crowded house, the […]
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The Art of Product Placement
Two years old and already a classic, The Art of Flight is part of the new generation of ski movies that present themselves as “documentaries.” Um, Crash Reel about snowboard championKevin Pearce, who crashed and suffered massive brain damage, is a documentary—a gripping story, well-paced and thoughtful. In The Art of Flight, with a soundtrack […]
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Locally Grown Film
Awakening is a short, but sound announcement of new talent
At a recent conference in New York, I sat on a panel with Chris Eyre. We were talking to a group of high school filmmakers. Eyre grew up in the Klamath Falls area and broke into the business with the runaway success of the first film he directed, Smoke Signals, widely heralded as the best […]
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And The Winner Is . . .
With the Academy Awards this weekend, our staff choices
Best Actor: Editor Phil Busse believes that Matthew McConaughey deserves not one but TWO Oscars as Best Actor (and a third for Best Supporting Actor in his brief appearance in The Wolf of Wall Street.) The Texan heartthrob had his breakout year, finally reclaiming the greatness he showed in A Time To Kill and cleaning […]
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The Grand Anderson
The Source’s film fest tribute to the Great Wes Anderson
To conclude The Grand Anderson—which really has just been foreplay for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest (out on March 7)—the Source presents probably his most popular film, The Royal Tenenbaums . . .and yes, it is a costume party! And by “party” we mean “contest.” Winning outfit receives a day pass to Mt Bachelor. Losing […]
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Move Over, Sundance
Telluride MountainFilm showcases sophisticated action films
Over the past few decades, kayaking has evolved, with boats from the ’80s seeming more like relics belonging in the Smithsonian than in the river; so why shouldn’t it be expected that kayaking films also have matured into sophisticated and sleek art pieces as well? “Cascada,” one of the short films that is bundled as […]
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Film Events 2/19-2/27
Capote Tribute Philip Seymour Hoffman was perhaps the greatest actor of his generation. Seriously. We will fist-fight anyone who says otherwise. During his two-decade career, he emerged from that-guy-who-is-in-every-film to the marquee actor, creating dozens of indelible characters during his all-too-short career: rock editor Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, reform-minded priest Father Flynn in Doubt, […]
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Critical Miss
Knights of Badassdom Is an Unholy Beast
Idiots might grin when they see a fiery-eyed, supernatural Peter Dinklage give a knowing smile while avenging his bloody death at the teeth and talons of a hell-spawned succubus near the end of Knights of Badassdom. (Whoops! Spoiler alert!) He’s a badass in Game of Thrones! And now he’s a badass in a movie about […]
