Link Round-Up: Stuff I've Been Writing

Much more over with the good folks at Variety, including the pretty funny Kevin Hart comedy About Last Night, the not particularly good but whatever horror film Haunt with Jacki Weaver in a small role, the deplorably stupid Down and Dangerous, and the deplorably moralistic and simply pointless Lucky Bastard. These kind of reviews are fun to write!

Over at To Be (Cont'd), the March discussion is between Abbey Bender and myself on the idea of timeless films, dated-ness, and the historical spectator. I wrote the fist post here. It also has gotten some great response over at The Dissolve through Noel Murray's excellent "Feedback" column.

Over at The Film Stage, I tried to find the Soderbergh side to his not-so recognizably Soderbergh film King of the Hill, which is now out on Criterion Blu (and has his 1995 feature The Underneath as a bonus feature).

Over at In Review Online, I dug further into Vulgar Auteurism with Paul WS Anderson's Pompeii, a pointedly disappointing work from the man. Never go without Milla again, good sir.

If you haven't heard Kent Jones on The Cinephiliacs, then something is very wrong with you.

On Letterboxd, by auteur:
George Cukor: The Philadelphia Story, A Woman's Face, Born Yesterday, The Marrying Kind, and A Star is Born.
Delmer Daves: The Hanging Tree
Johnnie To: Sparrow and Running on Karma
Hong Sang-Soo: Oki's Movie and The Day He Arrives
Teinosuke Kinugasa: Crossroads and A Page of Madness
Edgar Ulmer: The Light Ahead, Murder is My Beat, and Beyond the Time Barrier.
Silent Stuff: Chaplin's The Kid and DeMille's The Cheat

The Five-Year Engagement: Love Has Only One Boundary - Michigan

The Five-Year Engagement

Directed By: Nicholas Stoller

Written By: Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller

Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Christ Pratt, Alison Brie, Mimi Kennedy, David Paymer, Jacki Weaver, Kevin Hart, Rhys Ifans, Dakota Johnston, Mindy Kailing, Randall Park, Chris Parnell, and Brian Posehn.

Director of Photography: Javier Aguirresarobe, Editor: , Production Designer: , Original Music:

            The opening sequence of The Five-Year Engagement, a romantic comedy with surprising warmth and maturity, sets the stage for our couple destined to be. Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) are driving to her sister’s home when Tom starts talking about some receipts he forgot and must run back to the restaurant he works at. Violet looks at him strangely, as Tom becomes more and more panicked about what seems like a miniscule problem. Finally, he stops the car and slaps an engagement ring on the dashboard. Violet is more than excited, despite Tom’s despondence over failing to create a surprise. But Violet loves him too much, and Violet insists on going trough with the charade, even though the outcome is inevitable. And it is still romantic, and still funny, and still made my heart swell.

            Despite its labeling as the latest bro-comedy from the Judd Apatow machine, Nicholas Stoller’s The Five Year Engagement breaks and bends the mold to really explore what exactly relationships and commitment really mean. Written by Stoller and star Jason Segel (last seen collaborating on The Muppets), it’s the most ambitious of the brand of romantic comedy from Apatow’s brand, and the duo knock it out of the park. The film isn’t just for laughs, or to teach one sided a lesson. This is a film about two people who we know are right from the start learning to accept that challenge, and not let “life” get in the way. And by filling their narrative with some of the most comedic talents one could ever ask for, Stoller and Segel have stapled themselves as a worthy successor to Woody Allen with this gem of a film.