http://gatewaycinephiles.com A casual assemblage of St. Louis film fans and fanatics, dedicated to the appreciation and criticism of classic, independent, cult, and overlooked cinema. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:44:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Alice in Wonderland 2010 (USA) Director: Tim Burton Viewed: March 5, 2010 Format: Digital 3D Theatrical Projection (AMC West Olive Theater) Any film treatment of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books must overcome a conspicuous stumbling block: How does one adapt a pair of Victorian nursery stories, consisting mainly of a succession of absurdist dialogues, into engaging ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/03/09/uffish-but-not-frumious/ 2009 (UK) Director: Armando Iannucci Viewed: March 7, 2010 Format: Blu-ray - MPI Home Video (2010) http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/03/09/film-diary-in-the-loop/ The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) 2009 (Austria / Germany / France / Italy) Director: Michael Haneke Viewed: March 3, 2010 Format: Theatrical Print (Landmark Theaters Plaza Frontenac Cinema) There is a mystery at the core of Michael Haneke’s Palm d’Or-clinching new film, The White Ribbon, but it is not a mystery that requires a ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/03/04/innocence-and-other-noble-lies/ 2007 (Thailand) Director: Aditya Assarat Viewed: February 23, 2010 Format: DVD – Kino (2009) Revisiting this superb Thai romantic tragedy for the first time since I caught it at StLIFF in 2008, I was struck by how closely it hews to the rhythms and style of an American indie film.  There’s something about the ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/02/25/film-diary-wonderful-town/ Shutter Island 2010 (USA) Director: Martin Scorsese Viewed: February 21, 2010 Format: Theatrical Print (St. Louis Cinemas Moolah Theater) Eternally the Catholic kid from the Garment District, Martin Scorsese has long used his narrative features to explore the relationship between violence and guilt.  Granted, the stultifying, deforming influence of societies on the individual frequently figures ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/02/22/experimental-treatment/ 1973 (USA / Philippines) Director: Eddie Romero Viewed: February 19, 2010 Format: DVD - MGM (2001) The hallmarks of a sexy, scuzzy Women-in-Prison feature--including a gratuitous shower scene complete with frolicking, and hard-assed lesbian guards in ridiculously short shorts--are pretty much dispensed with in the first fifteen minutes of Black Mama, White Mama.  What ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/02/20/film-diary-black-mama-white-mama/ 1973 (USA) Director: Larry Cohen Viewed: February 19, 2010 Format: DVD - MGM (2001) Perhaps the most valuable lesson to be learned from Black Caesar is this: Do Not Fuck With Fred Williamson. Not only can the man take a bullet in the gut and keep on coming for your traitorous ass, he will, ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/02/20/film-diary-black-caesar/ Police, Adjective (Politist, adj.) 2009 (Romania) Director: Corneliu Porumboiu Viewed: February 9, 2010 Format: Theatrical Print (Landmark Theaters Tivoli Theater) Corneliu Porumboiu’s willfully staid and yet wholly absorbing new feature, Police, Adjective, operates on two interlocking planes.  On the one hand, it is a police procedural of the driest sort imaginable, an agonizingly attentive study ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/02/11/hurry-up-and-wait/ The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans 2009 (USA) Director: Werner Herzog Viewed: February 7, 2010 Format: Theatrical Print (Landmark Theaters Plaza Frontenac Cinema) Full disclosure: I have never seen Abel Ferrara’s pitch-black 1992 character study, Bad Lieutenant.  Neither has German film-maker and madman Werner Herzog.  Unlike me, however, Herzog has directed a ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/02/09/bad-bad-not-good-bad/ Crazy Heart 2009 (USA) Director: Scott Cooper Viewed: February 3, 2010 Format: Theatrical Print (St. Louis Cinemas Moolah Theater) When you strip Scott Cooper’s directorial debut, Crazy Heart, down to its skeleton, there’s not much that’s original about it from a story standpoint.  Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a broken-down musician must ... http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/02/06/play-it-loud-enough-to-keep-the-demons-at-bay/