‘Arts’ Archives
Police, Adjective & The Ghost Writer
by Howard McQuitter Police, Adjective (2009) *** Twentieth Century Fox Lagoon Running Time: 115 minutes Language: Romanian Director: Corneliu Porumboiu Bucharest detective Cristi (Dragos Bucur) trails a teenage boy who may be a hashish user, trying to find his supplier. Cristi would rather stop what seems to be overkill in finding small quantities of drugs on a 16 or 17 year old boy. Examining cigarette butts after the boy or his friends leave isn”'t what Cristi relishes doing. Cristi”'s boss (Vlad Ivanov, “4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days”) wants convictions; Cristi wants a far softer approach, clemency if you will, for a conviction can mean 15 years and ruin the boy”'s life, which is against his conscience. Perhaps his boss”' draconian approach to the boy (we never know his name) is rooted in the Ceausescu regime (1965-1989), a former iron-fisted Communist rule in Romania. “Police, Adjective” is certainly not for everyone [...]
Fish Tank & Repo Man
by Howard McQuitter Fish Tank (2009) **** Lagoon Drama Running time: 123 minutes Director: Andrea Arnold Unrated The movie starts rather slowly, but the plot becomes more clear as the main character Mia (Katie Jarvis) waddles through meaning her life at age 15. She feels trapped by her environment in the projects in an English city. Her mother Joanne (Kiersten Wareino), is a blond busty woman who loves to party and dance. Mia”'s little sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffins) plays around the tenement though she would often prefer following Mia around. Joanne”'s boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender of “Inglorious Basterds” and “Hunger”) seems okay, a happy-go-lucky guy with a job at a factory. The film is seen through the eyes of Misa, a school drop out, teased by boys in the neighborhood and she”'s a loner. She often uses a vacant apartment above her own to practice break-dancing while watching break-dance videos. She tries to free a [...]
Top 10 movies of 2009*
by Howard McQuitter, II Hurt Locker War/drama Rated: R Director: Kathryn Bigelow Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) has the most dangerous job in the world, disconnecting road bombs in Baghdad. There”'s not enough money to compensate him for his task. Sometimes Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), James”' superior, thinks James is a little crazy. Baader Meinhof Komplex Drama/History/Thriller/Adventure/Mystery Rated: R Director: Uli Edel German with English subtitles The meanest leftist groups in the west, the Red Army Faction, aka Baader Meinhof Gang, emerges in the late 1960s and into the 1970s in reaction to too much ultraconservatism in the West German government. They seek to take extreme measures, bombing banks, government buildings, etc., against the status quo. (more…)
