Director Yorgos Lanthimos's fourth feature-film, and second one at the Cannes Festival, can be divided into two parts: the first, good one, and the second half, which takes place in a woodsy area. There are trees, lots of them, and people living in them who attempt to alternatively break away from, and comply with, some complicated social constructs governing celibacy and marriage. How does THE ... more >
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CANNES DAY 3 | THE LOBSTER
A dystopia in the not-so-distant future
Stars Colin Farrell, Ben Whishaw and Rachel Weisz
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Carnage
And the point of it all was ...
Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and John C. Reilly
Directed by Roman Polanski
Carnage tells the story of two couples who meet to discuss in as civilized and understanding a manner as possible the schoolyard spat of their sons that resulted in broken teeth and harsh words. One pair of parents comes to the other pair’s apartment to discuss the situation. After they come to an agreement about the wording of a document describing the incident, things start going ... more >
We need to talk about Kevin
Violence told quaintly
Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller and John C. Reilly
Directed by Lynne Ramsay
We Need to Talk About Kevin isn’t the first film this year to outlast its immediacy. A novel written by Lionel Shriver in the wake of the Columbine school killings, director Lynne Ramsay has been trying to make the film since her last feature, Morvern Callar, in 2002. The unusually long gestation period has stripped the story of its ripped-from-the-headlines quality. It now plays like a ... more >
Roman Polanski’s Carnage
The New York Film Festival opener
Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly
Directed by Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski's latest effort is an adaptation of French dramatic auteur—and, for a short while, Nicolas Sarkozy confidante--Yasmine Reza's play “God of Carnage.” After being favorably received onstage, both Broadway and the West End mounted productions to mostly positive acclaim. It seems natural, then, that a film version—a ninety-minute set piece in which the characters barely leave the ... more >
Cedar Rapids
Getting all lyrical on you
Ed Helms, John C. Reilly and Anne Heche
Directed by Miguel Arteta
Corn feeder of the world! A city smelling of insurance, the cleaner of messes, where accidents are always accidents, even naked in bathrooms at the end of slackless ropes. Temptress of lusts, shaker of souls, the moral poisoner of overgrown children, City of the weak shoulders. They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I see your painted women, drizzling outside ... more >
Cyrus
[rating=4] “Cyrus” is a movie so loveable in its honesty and performances that you can’t help but think this is going to be a real winner for director brothers Mark and Jay Duplass, indie filmmakers with a quirky sensibility. Here they have a cast of Jonah Hill, John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, and Catherine Keener, which shouldn’t hurt its marketability either. Reilly plays John, a sad sac still ... more >