Now Playing: Ryan Gosling’s ‘Lost River’

On April 20, 2015April 17, 2015 By chrisbarsantiIn Film - New1 Comment

Iain De Caestecker tries to leave 'Lost River' — Iain De Caestecker tries to leave ‘Lost River’

A fantastical baroque about a mother and son fighting for survival in a slowly dying rust-belt town, Lost River is playing now in a few places.

My review is at Film Racket:

The best way to approach Ryan Gosling’s debut as a writer/director is to imagine what might happen if David Lynch were ever to shoot a nature documentary. Or if a consortium of mumblecore filmmakers dropped acid and decided to make a horror film. Something that Terence Malick might have tossed together after bumming around Detroit for a few weeks. The worst way would be to watch the film and try and determine afterwards what that was all about…

Here’s the trailer:

New in Theaters: ‘The Better Angels’

On November 8, 2014November 7, 2014 By chrisbarsantiIn Film - NewLeave a comment

Braydon Denney as young Abe Lincoln in 'The Better Angels' (Amplify) — Braydon Denney as young Abe Lincoln in ‘The Better Angels’ (Amplify)

Everybody knows that Abraham Lincoln was raised in a log cabin in Indiana. But it’s still jarring to consider how a man raised in the middle of nowhere with little schooling by probably illiterate parents became one of the nation’s greatest and most erudite leaders. A.J. Edwards’ beautifully abstract, Terence Malick-ian film about Lincoln’s childhood explores that mystery with only limited success.

The Better Angels opened yesterday in limited release. My review is at Film Journal International:

Abraham Lincoln is remembered as one of the nation’s most facile writers and speakers. Yet in this dreamy black-and-white tone poem about Lincoln’s childhood in a dirt-floor cabin in the Indiana woods, the future president says barely a word. It’s an intriguing gambit from debut director A.J. Edwards, the mirror opposite of the standard Spielbergian biopic, and ultimately not a successful one…

Here’s the trailer:

New in Theaters: ‘To the Wonder’

On April 11, 2013April 8, 2013 By chrisbarsantiIn Film - NewLeave a comment

to_the_wonder1 — Olga Kurylenko and Ben Affleck grin and bear it

When Terence Malick visited The Tree of Life on the world, it was something of a revelation. Whether viewers found it masterful and meaningful or grandiose and just plain silly, it left an impression. His newest, To the Wonder—in which Ben Affleck wanders around France and Oklahoma looking almost as lost as his female co-stars—draws from the same themes and stylistic template but to much lesser effect.