Crisp Criticism - "Only Lovers Left Alive", "Dom Hemingway", "Brick Mansions"

by

Julien Faddoul

Only Lovers Left Alive **

A 1000-year-old married couple, who live on drinking blood, struggle to tolerate a dim-witted 21^st century.

All the director's insignias are on display here, most of which are his interest in strict codes of behaviour among minorities and his distaste for a philistine-laden world. As usual, all of his desperate elements never cohere as a whole and one is left to wallow in the gorgeous images, sounds and jokes.

wd – Jim Jarmusch

ph – Yorick Le Saux

pd – Marco Bittner Rosser

m – Jozef van Wissem

ed – Affonso Goncalves

cos – Bina Baigeler

p – Reinhard Brundig, Jeremy Thomas

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Anton Yelchin, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Daziph

Crisp Criticism - "Transcendence", "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", "The Other Woman"

by

Julien Faddoul

Transcendence

A radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent two scientists from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.

Glum, self-serious homily on the dangers of high technology with its first-time director offering nothing of interest outside the visual effects.

d – Wally Pfister

w – Jack Paglen

ph – Jess Hall

pd – Chris Seagers

m – Mychael Danna

ed – David Rosenbloom

cos – George L. Little

p – Kate Cohen, Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, Annie Marter, Marisa Polvino, Aaron Ryder, David Valdes

Cast: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, Cole Hauser, Morgan Freeman, Clifton Collins Jr, Cory Hardrict

Crisp Criticism - "Divergent", "The Lego Movie", "Muppets Most Wanted", "13 Sins"

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Julien Faddoul

Divergent

In a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues, one girl possess the virtues of more than one.

Facile, humorless copycat cinema based on yet another piece of Young Adult fiction that is more like a 140-minute fitness commercial. Hardly any of the world building is clear and even less of it is interesting.

d – Neil Burger

w – Evan Daugherty, Vanessa Taylor   (Based on the Novel by Veronica Roth)

ph – Alwin H. Kuchler

pd – Andy Nicholson

m – Junkie XL

ed – Richard Francis-Bruce, Nancy Richardson

cos – Carlo Poggioli

p – Lucy Fisher, Pouya Shabazian, Douglas Wick

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Tony Goldwyn, Maggie Q, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort, Mekhi Phifer

Crisp Criticism - "Noah", "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", "Bad Words", "Cheap Thrills"

by

Julien Faddoul

Noah

The tale of the flood from the Book of Genesis.

An utter though curious failure: bombastic, pretentious and dull from the first frame on, with performances that nauseate. In an attempt to do an origin story on the world's first superhero, Aronofsky has created something that's more like Ridley Scott meshed with warmed-over Tom Hooper. But it certainly is singular.

d – Darren Aronofsky

w – Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel

ph – Matthew Libatique

pd – Mark Friedberg

m – Clint Mansell

ed – Andrew Weisblum

cos – Michael Wilkinson

p – Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Arnon Milchan, Mary Parent

Cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth