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| BITCHSLAP STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
17194 |
| Total Ratings: |
209375 |
| Total Reviews: |
21108 |
![[20376466 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?20376466)
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Do you like us? Prove it and be our friend at MySpace! (EFC and HBS)
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| ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD |
"Places as strange as Antarctica demand guides as unique as Werner Herzog."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2008 INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON: A couple years ago, Werner Herzog made a peculiar little film called "The Wild Blue Yonder", with Brad Dourif as an alien who has been marooned on Earth for some time. Herzog used photography taken under the ice shelves of Antarctica to create the alien's apparently unearthly home, and it was effective enough to make the audience wonder why some movies spend tens of millions of dollars on special effects. Now Herzog has gone to Antarctica himself, looking for and sometimes finding a land as strange as those where his fictional films have been set." (more)
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| BABY MAMA |
"When good comics go bad."
David Cornelius says... "With its paper-thin characters, cheesy sitcom plotting, and lamebrained punchlines, “Baby Mama” seems like the movie actors as smart as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler would want to ridicule. Yet here they are, both starring in a comedy that’s as forgettable as it is idiotic. Were both sold on the idea that a stale, safe, middle-of-the-road comedy was exactly what they needed to boost their careers? Were they tired of performing intelligent material, the urge to dumb it down becoming irresistible? You can’t help but wonder: just what were they thinking?" (more)
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| SPEED RACER (2008) |
"Project it on the back wall of a club and you've got something."
Rob Gonsalves says... "Who says relations between the U.S. and Japan aren’t solid? Anime is trying to look more and more like live-action Hollywood films (see the "Appleseed" movies), and live-action Hollywood films are trying to look more and more like anime (see just about any summer movie). "Speed Racer" arrives as a go-between, the missing link." (more)
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| SECRECY |
"A must-see documentary for every civic-minded American."
Mel Valentin says... "SCREENED AT THE 2008 SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Directed by Peter Galison and Robb Moss, "Secrecy" explores an often dense, complex subject, government secrecy, ostensibly for national security reasons. Relying primarily on talking-head interviews mixed in with archival footage and animated illustrations, Galison and Moss trace the history of government secrecy, beginning in World II with the Manhattan Project and jumping forward more than a half a century later to explore the ramifications of new secrecy laws and practices instituted in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Galison and Moss offer a balanced, nuanced approach that eschews polemics or grandstanding and gives different viewpoints the opportunity to be heard and understood while inevitably suggesting that the trade off between security and privacy, between executive power and constitutional liberties has tipped too far in favor of executive power." (more)
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| GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS |
"A fascinating, if hagiographic, documentary about Philip Glass."
Mel Valentin says... "SCREENED AT THE 2008 SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Directed by Scott Hicks ("No Reservations," "Shine[/i]), "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts," chronicles a year in the life of minimalist composer Philip Glass, culminating in the performance of his latest opera, "Waiting for the Barbarians" in Erfut, Germany two years ago. Hicks intercuts footage of Glass’s home life with interviews of Glass’ friends, family, and collaborators, including Errol Morris (they worked together for the first time on Morris’ groundbreaking documentary, "The Thin Blue Line" twenty years ago) and Woody Allen (their first collaboration, "Cassandra’s Dream" was released earlier this year). Hicks’ respectful portrait of Glass who, at seventy (now seventy one), continues to work on multiple projects, simultaneously, comes close to losing balance in favor of hagiography, but it’s a fascinating, compelling look at one of the twentieth century’s most important composers." (more)
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| MY WINNIPEG |
"Guy Maddin's Winnipeg is, as expected, a strange place."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2008 INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON: Guy Maddin has long had a love-hate relationship with his home town of Winnipeg; most of his previous films have been set there and portrayed it as a place nearly as dreary as it is bizarre. "My Winnipeg" isn't very different from his purely fictional films in that respect. The affection comes across more clearly here than in those films, even as it is delivered with a kick." (more)
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| SPEED RACER (2008) |
"I feel the need!...The need to run the hell away from this Speed."
brianorndorf says... "The Wachowski Brothers have proven their skill with visual gymnastics and their affinity for high-octane action, but an ability to assemble a suitable family film will most likely always elude them. “Speed Racer” is an ocular slap, but it’s strictly empty calories; a joyless, over-plotted nostalgia machine that barely limps out of the starting gate." (more)
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| WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS |
"Diaz and Kutcher are dead to me"
brianorndorf says... "What happens in Vegas? Well, it usually involves a truckload of booze, which is something not readily available in a movie theater and would help this shrill monstrosity of a romantic comedy greatly. If I had anything kind to say about Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz before this film, I’m ready to take every word back." (more)
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INTERVIEW: THE FATHERS OF "SON OF RAMBOW"
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Fillmakers Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith--better known by their collective name Hammer & Tongs--sit down to discuss their new project, the delightful family film "Son of Rambow."" (more) |
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DVD REVIEWS FOR 5/9: "THE CAR IS IN THE DVD PLAYER!"
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "If you are somehow able to tear yourself away from the glories of "Gossip Girl"--somehow, the fact that Serena apparently killed someone makes me like her all the more--there are a ton of DVDs to check out in this week's list, including more than a few that I never dreamed would ever be released. (By the way, if any of you out there even vaguely know Liv Tyler, I beseech you to put in a good word for me.)" (more) |
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'POINTLESS ACT! YOU DON'T GIVE A FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR TIP TO THE HOUSEKEEPER! THAT'S INAPPROPRIATE! THAT'S INEXCUSABLE!'
- Dignan, Bottle Rocket
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