Tag: Sound of My Voice

Now Playing: ‘The East’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Film - NewLeave a comment
Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgard in 'The East'
Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgard in ‘The East’

theeast-posterIn the new eco-spy-thriller The East, a private investigator is sent to infiltrate an anarchist cell. It’s a smart piece of work with impressive performances all around (Alexander Skarsgard, Patricia Clarkson in particular), but a slightly disappointing effort from director Zal Batmanglij, who wowed with last year’s astounding debut Sound of My Voice.

The East opened last Friday in limited release and will be expanding around the country over the summer.

My review is at Film Racket; here’s part of it:

Batmanglij’s co-writer Brit Marling plays Jane, a former FBI agent hired by a private intelligence firm as an investigator. Her first assignment is to infiltrate The East, an underground environmental activist cell that’s been targeting corporate executives they accuse of spreading pollution and disease. Jane dyes her hair blonde, gets tossed a pair of Birkenstocks by her new boss Sharon (an even flintier than usual Patricia Clarkson), and heads out to gather intelligence on The East for the firm’s corporate clients. A few nights of eating out of dumpsters and hopping freight trains later, she’s face to face with The East. They turn out to be little like the expected ranting radicals…

You can watch the trailer here:

DVD Tuesday: ‘Sound of My Voice’

On By chrisbarsantiIn DVD - FilmLeave a comment

One of the greater film surprises of 2012 was the blink-and-you-missed-it Sound of My Voice, which came out on DVD last week. My review is at AMC Movie Database:

Zal Batmanglij’s canny and suspenseful head-knotter Sound of My Voice initially seems of a piece with films like Martha Marcy May Marlene, United Red Army, and the new festival film First Winter. It, too, revolves around a small gang of earnest believers following a leader whose motives are suspect at best. Where Batmanglij’s film stands apart is in its unalloyed skill and confidence — this is one of the most assured feature debuts in recent memory — and in his ability to turn this exploration of cult indoctrination into both a profound character study and a nail-biting thriller. But for a conclusion that arrives long before the audience is ready for it to be over with, this would have been the runaway indie hit of the year…

You can see the trailer here: