Frozen

A delightful return to the — amusingly tweaked — conventions of silent film for an unexpectedly moving if familiar love story

[See “Entry from August 6, 2008” under “My Diary”] Discover more from James Bowman Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email. Type your email… Subscribe

In Snake Eyes by Brian De Palma we are presented with Nicholas Cage in the role of Rick Santoro, a loud, corrupt and casually brutal cop in Atlantic City. He gambles, takes bribes, keeps a mistress on his illegal income and rarely sees his wife and child. He knows all the angles and has a…

Swept from the Sea by Beeban Kidron is a ludicrously overblown adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s short story, “Amy Foster.” Now the first and absolutely essential thing for you to know about Conrad’s Amy is that she was — how shall we say? — of the canine kind with regard to feminine pulchritude. Also stupid. Conrad…

A well made Spanish film about a couple of prostitutes that flirts a little too blatantly with sentimentalism

A clever headline to the New York Times review of Charlie’s Angels read “Sleek, Tough, Frosted? Must Be Empowerment.” The irony is meant to be a gentle one, as is that of the film itself, which in true postmodern style tries to make a virtue out the patent preposterousness of the kick-fighting, acrobatic babes of…