Movie Reviews of all the latest Hollywood blockbusters and catch all the hottest celeb gossip - AOL Australia

Best / Worst

Cinematical Seven: Overlooked Gems from the First Half of 2009

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:15:00 EST

Filed under: Cinematical Seven, Best/Worst

As last year, I want to use this space to highlight some terrific films that came down the pike in the first six months of the year -- and merrily continued down the pike without anyone giving much of a damn. This happens to a host of deserving movies every year; given how much of a miracle it is when an indie actually takes off, there's no avoiding it. But these seven are eminently worth your time; at the very least, I promise they're interesting. Give them a shot.

1. Two Lovers (James Gray) -- Actually my favorite film of the year, this melancholy character study is carried out with such painstaking attention to detail that it becomes akin to one of Henry Selick's stop-motion miracles -- watching it inspires a sort of awe. This is James Gray's follow-up to We Own the Night, and Gray has announced himself as one of our most important newcomers, a master at creating living, breathing, populated, real universes for his characters to inhabit. [Now on DVD.]

2. Julia (Erick Zonca) - This movie barely saw theaters at all -- I saw it in a one-week run courtesy of our local Film Society -- but it might have been a decent investment for an actual distributor. Though it has someone profoundly unpleasant at its center -- the perpetually drunk and nasty title character, played by the incredible Tilda Swinton -- it eventually turns into a remarkably tense little thriller, complete with a classic kidnapping scenario and a chance for the rotten protagonist's redemption. [On DVD August 18th.]

Continue reading Cinematical Seven: Overlooked Gems from the First Half of 2009

Flickchart: Easily the Coolest Movie Site of the Year

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:03:00 EST

Filed under: Fandom, Film Blog Group Hug, Lists, Best/Worst

Dictionary.com defines "addiction" as "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice," and I offer the definition of such a basic word to illustrate a point: I am addicted to Flickchart.com. Tickled, fascinated, enamored, and addicted. It's a remarkably simple idea: You log in and you're offered two films. You pick which one you like more. (There's also a "haven't seen it" option, so be honest!) Then you repeat that process over and over for three hours until you realize it's 4am but you want to vote on just a few ... more ... pairs...

Flickchart is still in its beta mode, but it looks like the plan is to open the doors wide in mid-July. But what's coolest about the site is not the fun of picking your favorite movies ... it actually collates all your choices into one massive and mathematically unimpeachable list of YOUR favorite films. My advice is to pick the flick you like more, not the one you think is more reputable. Gone with the Wind is great, obviously, but Die Hard gets my vote. Also fun: You can post comments on specific matchups, as I did last night when greeted by a choice between Catwoman and Double Team. (Halle got the vote for being pretty.)

After the jump I've included a nifty little trailer that illustrates how Flickchart works (and a few cool notes), but of course you should visit the website and nose around a bit. Membership is currently accessible by invitation only, but it seems like they'll be opening the doors soon. Aw, what the heck? The Flickchart fellas say "Any friend of Cinematical is a friend of ours, so click right here to bypass the invitation process and log right in! Enjoy! (Add me as a Flickchart friend if you like: scottEweinberg. Just like on the Twitter.)

Continue reading Flickchart: Easily the Coolest Movie Site of the Year

The Cinematical Team's Picks for the Best of 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:32:00 EST

Filed under: Lists, Best/Worst

This just in: Cinematical loves movies. So I thought it would be smart to poll the Cine staff, get a bunch of Top 10s, send all the data over to Goss for the math, and then publish the list here for everyone to see. Yes, that's right: We have a Top 10 Movies of 2008 article. We expect to start a big trend with this piece.

01) The Dark Knight -- The highest-grossing film of the year (and second-highest of all time) also happened to be one of the best films of the year -- how often does that happen? Christopher Nolan's dark morality play had something for fanboys, film critics, and regular moviegoers alike, making it the rare entertainment spectacle that actually deserved the attention it received. The bar keeps getting raised on "superhero" movies, but can the genre get much better than this? -- Eric D. Snider

02) Let the Right One In -- One of the strangest, sweetest, and most unexpectedly powerful films of the year. This tale of a vampiric young girl and her human new friend is one of those horror movies that reminds you how excellent the genre CAN be. -- Scott Weinberg

03) Slumdog Millionaire -- I hate to be the fuddy-duddy who goes for the conventional, predictable pick, but this year I can't help it. The best film of Danny Boyle's career is a fairytale, wrenching and funny and impossibly rousing; it transported me to another world, made me cry and want to leap out of my seat. By the time the closing Bollywood dance number wrapped up, I had given Slumdog my heart. -- Eugene Novikov

Continue reading The Cinematical Team's Picks for the Best of 2008