Nerve Insider

Browse by Tags

• Movie Review: Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park

  Screengrab is surprised to find that Gus Van Sant’s latest, Paranoid Park, is an angst-filled delight: “Gus Van Sant achieves thrilling new heights of lyrical expressionism with Paranoid Park, his fractured adaptation of a young-adult novel by Blake Nelson. Frankly, I was so certain that I never wanted to see this particular director set foot on a high-school campus again that I contemplated a restraining order. But this brilliantly schizoid character study — structured as the letter-cum-journal entry of Alex, a skate punk with a guilty conscience (sensational newcomer Gabe Nevins, found via MySpace) — digs into the teenage mindset with a clarity and eloquence that Elephant, with its distracting (and, to my mind, obscene) echoes of real-world tragedy, couldn't possibly achieve.” Read the full film review here. And check out the review of The Bank Job, starring the Transporter…er, Jason Statham! Posted Mar 07 2008, 02:27 PM by Nicole Ankowski with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film reviews, screengrab, movie review, Gus Van Sant

• New on Nerve, 1.25.08: Rambo Returns!

  Hitting the multiplex this weekend? Already seen Juno eighteen times? The Film Lounge reviews the latest cinematic releases…and let’s you rate ’em, too. Ah, the power. Check out the latest, before you give Stallone $20 of your hard-earned money: Rambo: “Opening with news footage, Stallone appears to be making a statement about global indifference towards the ongoing Burmese genocide. He isn't." 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days: Just about the exact opposite of Juno. The Air I Breathe: Features Forrest Whitaker as a flustered accountant; Andy Garcia as a crazy loan-shark mobster; Brendan Fraser as a thug with a gift for prophecy (really); Emile Hirsch as the boss’ petulant nephew; and, you know, Sarah Michelle Gellar as a pop superstar named “Sorrow.” Oh Buffy, where art thou? Posted Jan 25 2008, 06:05 PM by Nicole Ankowski with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: film lounge, movie ratings, rambo

• New on Nerve, 12.21.2007: Film & DVD Reviews

  Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: “As with every other film Burton's made in the past fifteen years — with the exception of the meek but solid Big Fish — Sweeney starts off strong but outstays its welcome by half an hour.” Charlie Wilson’s War:“Maybe if we lived in a vacuum, and Charlie Wilson's War took place on a distant planet, we could all sit back and enjoy the fun. But in a world of very real moral urgency, a film like this, no matter how entertaining, will catch in your throat.” Flakes: “If you want a cute, snarky picture book put onscreen, you've got it here. If you wanted something deeper — even some representation of multifaceted life or complex love — you just end up with a soggy mess.” Senator Obama Goes to Africa (DVD): “Senator Obama Goes to Africa is more political propaganda than international-awareness builder ("As seen on Oprah!" cheers the DVD case), but that doesn't mean it's not a good film.”   Posted Dec 21 2007, 11:45 AM by Sarah with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: film, film lounge, film reviews, dvd review

• New on Nerve, 12.14.2007: Film Reviews

  I Am Legend: “In a movie devastating in its moments of quiet realism, it's too bad the antagonists look like cartoons. Put them aside, and you should enjoy the haunted Manhattan of I Am Legend.” Youth Without Youth: “Abandon hope, all ye who enter this picture seeking narrative coherence. But if you're in the mood for a visually stunning, batshit-loco jaunt into Eastern European mysticism, you could do considerably worse.” The Kite Runner: “The [film] may not feel staggeringly original, but it's hard not to be moved by Hosseini's epic, devastating tale of ruined friendships and a destroyed country.” Look: “Generally, one feels less a sympathy for the spied-upon than a sense that these people should be watched carefully at all times. This actually makes for a pretty entertaining hundred minutes, but as far as thematic resonance, it's a bust”   Posted Dec 14 2007, 11:15 AM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film reviews

• New on Nerve, 12.7.2007: Reviews of "Juno," "Atonement," "The Golden Compass" and more

  Six reviews in today's film lounge… so many movies, so little time.   Juno: "A distaff version of last summer's hit comedy Knocked Up, Juno makes a even more ambitious attempt to meld yuks and pathos, with shakier results." The Golden Compass: "Compass is impressively short for a modern fantasy epic, less than two hours, but it suffers for it. It's a shame, because the movie is full of solid performances."   Atonement: "Some will find [the film's twist] cheap and possibly even pointless, but others will be haunted by it. Count me in among the latter group, not least because Wright's style sells it all so well."  The Walker: "What might have been a first-rate character study instead devolves into a routine morass of Beltway intrigue."  Grace is Gone: "Where Grace excels is in the performances. Oscar buzz already surrounds Cusack's portrayal of the stiff-legged, uptight father attempting to channel his fun-loving younger self while silently grieving."  Billy the Kid: " As embarrassing as it is to reflect upon memories [of high school awkwardness] and watch them played onscreen, it's a trip worth taking."  Posted Dec 07 2007, 11:45 AM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film review

• New on Nerve, 11.30.2007: An Essay about filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini

  In this essay Bilge Ebiri writes about Pier Paolo Pasolini, a gay Marxist filmmaker whose work from the 1960s remains controversial and shocking today. “What is perhaps most remarkable about these films is that while Pasolini certainly grew and changed as an artist, his voice and sensibility remained unmistakably consistent: the director who made one of the Vatican's favorite movies was the same one whose final film is still banned in numerous countries.” Posted Nov 30 2007, 12:15 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film essay, Bilge Ebiri

• New on Nerve, 11.30.2007: Film Reviews and a Q&A with Tamara Jenkins

  Today’s film reviews… The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: “Nobody with an ounce of empathy could fail to be moved by the true story of this volume's painstaking creation. Still, it's the real-life story, not the artistry involved in its telling, that does all the heavy lifting here.” The Savages: Tamara Jenkins who directed “the ticklish comedy Slums of Beverly Hills, came out nine long years ago — has finally made another movie. Her touch is equally assured here, in a very different context, and it's no crime (he damned with faint praise) if the result is solid rather than exciting, expertly covering all the expected restrained-indie bases.” Chronicle of an Escape: “The film belongs to that large, undistinguished subset of historical dramas that achieve little more than informing viewers that the events onscreen did in fact take place." Also new in the film lounge, we have an interview with the Tamara Jenkins, director of The Savages. “I definitely wasn't interested in a sentimental portrait or a sanctimonious portrait or a maudlin portrait. It was really important to be blunt and honest about it, but I think inherent in that is this sort of humor that courses through the movie simultaneous with the tragedy.” Posted Nov 30 2007, 11:45 AM by Sarah with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: film lounge, film reviews, film interview

• Playing Catch-Up: Film Reviews and a Q&A with Lili Taylor

  Welcome back! The Nerve offices were closed Thursday and Friday however we often publish on days we’re not in the office so there’s lots to catch up on from Friday. We’ll start with film. Fridays we publish film and DVD reviews as well as interviews. This week we had reviews of… I’m Not There: “When I'm Not There is good, it's very, very good, and when it's bad, it's merely annoying.” Hitman: “Hitman is an insult to violent trash.” The Mist: "The Mist is a large-scale Twilight Zone episode. And despite some glaring missteps, it's a decent one." August Rush: "Even if you're not the musical type, you might suspend your disbelief long enough to be stirred." Feed (DVD): “Feed plays like a nostalgic political blooper reel — but not a particularly tight one.” We also had an interview with Lili Taylor. “I think I get the same feeling of meaning from psychology that I get from acting. Sometimes reading a good book about psychology, about the human condition, I feel filled up with a sense of meaning. And that's what acting can do, too, to me.” Want more? Visit the Film Lounge for all our movie coverage.     Posted Nov 26 2007, 11:15 AM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film reviews, peter smith, film interview, dvd review

• New on Nerve, 11.16.2007: Q&A with Bob Balaban

  According to Leonard Pierce Bob Balaban is “a small, dapper, bespectacled figure with the permanent air of someone who has misplaced his newspaper.”  Balaban has appeared in Capote, Seinfeld and produced Gosford Park, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. His IMDB profile lists 74 acting roles, and 35 producing, writing and directing credits. The man is prolific.   We interviewed him on the thirtieth anniversary re-release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in which he played the cartographer David Laughlin. Balaban wrote a book about the making of the film. “We didn't know the reaction to the book would be so nice, but I can't see it ever happening again. How often do you get the opportunity to stand next to Stephen Spielberg and Francois Truffaut for nine months, chatting away?” Posted Nov 16 2007, 05:00 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film interview

• New on Nerve, 11.16.2007: Film Reviews

  Margot at the Wedding: “As malignant as the film's emotions generally are, Margot at the Wedding somehow plays more like curdled Rohmer than straight Bergman, thanks to Baumbach's precise wit and penchant for droll exaggeration.” Southland Tales: “No single aspect of the movie melds with the others. It all feels thin and half-formed.” Beowulf: "Despite being good fun, the first two acts of the movie are a little stilted. It seems that Avary and Gaiman weren't sure if they wanted somberness or Peter-Jackson-style bombast, and the indecision is reflected in Zemeckis' direction. This clears up by the third act, which is all bombast and to good, if not mind-blowing, effect." Redacted: "It's a formally ambitious approach to a dramatically powerful subject, which makes it all the more disappointing that nothing involving the characters seems even remotely believable." The Life of Reilly: "The Life of Reilly may be a poor substitute for the man himself. But for those who never had the chance to sit taut and silent in that dark theater, it is a treasure." Posted Nov 16 2007, 11:51 AM by Sarah with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: film lounge, film reviews

• New on Nerve, 11.9.2007: Film and DVD Reviews

  Also in today’s film lounge, reviews: Film: No Country for Old Men: This is the rare movie so moment-to-moment riveting that you're sometimes in danger of forgetting to breathe. It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine!: [Crispin Glover’s] new film and second in the planned It trilogy, It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine, finds Glover not only tightening his skill and artistic vision but also cementing his new identity as a confident and confrontational creator. DVD: Pixar Short Films Collection – Volume 1: Pixar always had more to offer than mere technical innovation; what sets them apart (then and now — even the simplest film here craps all over, say, Shrek 3) is a deep understanding of and appreciation for a century of kinetic, physically dynamic cinema. Posted Nov 09 2007, 12:15 PM by Sarah with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: film lounge, film reviews

• New on Nerve, 11.2.07: An appreciation of filmmaker Kenneth Anger

  Bilge Ebiri explores his relationship with the films of Kenneth Anger.   Why is it that [Anger's] films feel so urgent today, when a decade ago I found them unwatchable? Celebrities have outpaced the roles they play; their work as actors now seems incidental to their fame. This phenomenon has been fueled by media ventures designed to reflect the glamour back onto itself, be it through TV (see: Entourage, every celebrity reality show), well-funded gossip websites like TMZ and an ever-expanding tabloid universe. More than any other filmmaker, Kenneth Anger depicted this trend half a century in advance. Anger's work doesn't exist in the experimental, far-off edges of the cinematic empire. It straddles — and crosses — a very thin line between the conventional and the insane. His cinema is the dark, deranged runoff from Hollywood's dream factory: crazed, breathless nightmares of glamour, ritual and tough-guy iconography. Posted Nov 02 2007, 11:39 AM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film essay, Bilge Ebiri

• New on Nerve, 11.1.07: Blade Runner Final Cut, Reviewed

  Today Pete Smith ruminates on the newest Blade Runner director's cut:  We're all biological machines, and death is an annihilation, the loss of all memories and experiences. We all want more life, and we're all out of luck, just as Batty is when he finally breaks into the home of Eldon Tyrell, the man who designed him. "What seems to be the problem?" asks Dr. Tyrell. Batty: "Death." Tyrell: "Death — well, that's a little out of my jurisdiction." Posted Nov 01 2007, 10:55 AM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film, film lounge, peter smith, film issue, film essay, blade runner, science fiction

• "The second you don't look like Sam Riley anymore, the easier it is to convince yourself you're Ian Curtis."

  Will Doig interviews Sam Riley, who plays Ian Curtis in the New Joy Division biopic, Control . According to Will, Riley "has a great voice, and not just cause he's british. It's a nice smoky baritone. and his cadence was great. For instance, when he talked about Deborah and that whole part about portraying a man in front of that man's widow, he got very quiet and contemplative." What was it like meeting the widow of the man you were portraying? I was embarrassed, to be honest. I think we both thought it was fairly surreal. I was in their house, I had to sleep upstairs, I was wearing his clothes, and I'd be walking around their house and I'd bump into Debbie, and I almost wanted to say sorry. Sorry for portraying Ian? Yeah. For being an imposter or something. [Playing Ian in front of her] was like saying something about someone when they're standing right behind you - it was that kind of feeling. I could see she was nervous, but she was lovely. Visit the film's official site.  After the jump watch a video of Joy Division performing "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Read More... Posted Oct 30 2007, 11:22 AM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, will doig, film interview, biopic

• "So many Oscar noms, so many talented actors, so much Buffy."

  Another great dispatch from our film issue: "Do-overs," in which we compare sex scenes in older films and their newer remakes. Below, a scene from 1988's Dangerous Liaisons. Click here to see three other version of this scene.  Posted Oct 26 2007, 05:20 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, Video, sex scenes, film issue

• Also New on Nerve, 10.19.07: Ben Affleck's Directorial Debut

  Stolen from Screengrab, film review excerpts:     Gone Baby Gone: "Gone Baby Gone turns out to be a sure-footed, high-intensity drama, expertly written, expertly played and, yes, expertly directed." Wristcutters: A Love Story: "Balls and a fondness for the irreverent will only get you so far." The Kubrick Collection: "To argue that Kubrick's work is cold suggests a willful ignorance of the films themselves."   Posted Oct 19 2007, 12:20 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film reviews, screengrab

• Friday Film: Reviews and an appreciation of Ang Lee

  Today in the film lounge (thanks Screengrab!):  The Darjeeling Limited: "Darjeeling, with its obsessive rituals and inherited mannerisms, represents a sad regression." Feast of Love: "It's a ten-course meal that most viewers will quickly come to wish had been served up smorgasbord-style, allowing them to grab the fresh items and leave the rancid ones behind." Lust, Caution: "The tension is ratcheted by the film's much-publicized sex scenes; unlike most cinematic clinches, the graphic trysts are revelatory." Knocked Up: Unrated and Unprotected Edition: "No matter what version you pick up, you get more than your money's worth from the feature alone." Sex and Sensibility — Sarah Hepola explores the erotic oeuvre of Ang Lee: "Sex turns out to be a wonderful cinematic device to explore the tension between what's expected and what's longed for." -- Screengrab  Posted Sep 28 2007, 05:31 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film reviews, screengrab, Ang Lee

• New on Nerve, 9.14.2007: Film

  Friday is film day at Nerve. We publish film and DVD reviews, the occasional interview and reviewers reviewed, in which we excerpt and rate film reviewers from various sites. We also have Take 5 in Screengrab (our film blog), a list of five movies that have a similar theme to a movie opening that day and on Thursdays a 'Top 15' list in Screengrab. Whew.  Nerve film coverage is like the Nerve reader in high school: deep and complex, full of longing and largely unknown. Here's a rundown of what's gone up today. Reviews: Eastern Promises: "Cronenberg delivers his most lifeless movie to date, an unrepentant hack-job that can neither satisfy on a narrative level or disturb on a stylistic level." Darkon: "There's a line between presenting a subculture fairly and buying wholly into its underlying premises." Great World of Sound: "Bleak as it is, Great World of Sound is also weirdly uplifting; written and acted with admirable subtlety, it shows without telling." Reviewers Reviewed: "As slick as it is, Eastern Promises could, like A History of Violence, almost pass for an exceptionally well-made B-movie." - J Hoberman, The Village Voice Backhanded compliment or high praise? You be the judge. Take 5: Small Wars: "A lot of countries have fought a lot of wars, not all of them as crammed with shock and awe as that sexy, sexy Second World War. The Hunting Party, opening wide today, features the intriguing team-up of Richard Gere and Terrence Howard as a pair of journalists immersed in intrigue during the Bosnian conflict; here's some other movies set during a choice selection of lovely little wars..." Top 16: Cinema's Worst Musical Misfires. With video! "Julie Taymor's much-anticipateddreaded romantic Beatles musical epic Across the Universe opens this week. Let's face it: if it turns out to be a disaster, this won't be the first time a crack-headed, ambitious musical idea resulted in a less-than-stellar work of cinema.Here are our favorites from the Worst Musical Misfires in Cinema History. " Posted Sep 14 2007, 03:59 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, screengrab, Take 5, Friday Film, Top 15, reviewers reviewed

• Pete and John in the conference room

  Today John Constantine and Peter Smith were behind closed doors in the conference room for several hours watching a movie or TV show or wild teens! anal fisting! cause that's what we do at Nerve. (Totally kidding about that last one because I know Pete prefers older women.) But kidding aside, what were they watching? We'll likely find out soon in the film lounge or screengrab... TO BE CONTINUED. Posted Sep 12 2007, 07:30 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, peter smith, screengrab, conference room, John Constantine

• By Popular Demand: Sex on Film

  One of the most popular features this past month has been our coverage of the greatest sex scenes in cinema. This is the place to find an answer to the "favorite on-screen sex scene" section in Nerve personals. Check out the list in the Nerve Film Lounge or skip the words and go straight to the action. Posted Sep 10 2007, 05:50 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, Nerve Video, sex scenes, popular

• Friday Film

  Film Reviews:      3:10 to Yuma: "This is classic good guys vs. bad guys stuff, and it works, by and large, marvelously." The Bubble: "Good intentions don't save The Bubble from occasional swings into formula and stereotype." In the Shadow of the Moon: "Blends spectacular remastered footage of the Apollo program with moving testimony from those who lived it." Stranger Than Paradise: "While very much of a product of its time, Stranger Than Paradise's wit and minimalism have aged well." Posted Sep 07 2007, 05:00 PM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: film lounge, film reviews

• New Today

  The Nerve Date, Installment 2 "When we finally met Madison, on a hot summer afternoon, we learned that her interests include wine, art, politics, and being photographed by Samantha Wolov increasingly naked in her apartment."     An Interview with Lisa Carver, author of The Lisa Diaries.   "I had like six boyfriends and a couple of girlfriends. One day, Genevieve said, you should have a live diary."     An interview with John Tuturro, actor and director of Romance & Cigarettes. "I was trying to connect the Charles Bukowski quality to the James Brown, Bruce Springsteen quality. Regular people have imaginations, they have sexuality, they have stupidity, they have rage, they have love."     Posted Sep 07 2007, 11:47 AM by Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: photography, lisa carver, the lisa diaries, nerve date, oral history, film, john tuturro, film lounge, interview