Movie buffs can have a lot of fun playing the “what if” and “what the hell” games with this new version of Robin Hood’s adventures, of which there have been countless variations in film or on TV since Douglas Fairbanks hippety-hopped through the Sherwood Forest of Southern California in 1922. The most fondly remembered re-telling […]
Doug Bentin
Posted inNews
The riveting documentary ‘Oceans’ features awe-inspiring cinematography
Whether or not the documentary “Oceans” beats us over the head with a conservationist message is subjective. If you think that all is well with life on Planet Earth, you’ll probably think the film is preachy. If you believe that we’re killing the planet, and ourselves along with it, you might think that co-directors Jacques […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Runaways
Cherie (Dakota Fanning, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”) and Marie Currie (Riley Keough, in her first feature film) are a pair of vacuous teens in Los Angeles. Cherie is the more disaffected of the two, relieving the boredom of life by hanging out at rock clubs and lip-syncing David Bowie. Record producer Kim Fowley (Michael […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Castle in the Sky/Kiki’s Delivery Service/My Neighbor Totoro
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B002ZTQVHK&fc1=000000&IS2=1 Japan’s master animator, Hayao Miyazaki, has been making feature films for nearly 25 years, but has only recently become an “overnight” success in America. Alongside his recent “Ponyo,” Disney has re-released three of his films from the Eighties: “Castle in the Sky,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “My Neighbor Totoro.” Each of the three […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Shutter Island
“Shutter Island” is a dark, creepy examination of madness living next to and indistinguishable from sanity, disguised as a dark, creepy thriller. Director Martin Scorsese (“The Departed“) has a blast tying you in knots with suspense while slipping you a message about the people you see every day, including you. This is how the movie […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Invictus
It’s clear that “Invictus” aims at being more than just the average inspirational sports movie. I can’t imagine director Clint Eastwood (“Gran Torino”), who never makes the same film twice, at age 79, being satisfied with such lightweight fare. But his new movie is so concerned with rugby as a game, not as a metaphor, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Zombieland
What the hell is so funny about zombies? They have terrible table manners, ripping out flesh and gizzards and stuff with their teeth. And they never floss. They never wash their clothes, despite being constantly covered with blood and whatever that nasty liquid is that keeps draining from their mouths. Plus, they’re dead and won’t […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Surrogates
Sometimes Hollywood has its head so firmly implanted in its own fundament I have to wonder what it sees in there that’s so fascinating. Take the new quasi-sci-fi thriller “Surrogates,” for instance. Here’s a picture that tells you that one of the movies’ greatest appeals is bad for you. The story takes place at least […]
Posted inMusic
Museum screens ‘The Windmill Movie’ documentary
Alexander Olch’s documentary “The Windmill Movie” is a difficult film to like, and an impossible film to love. Like its subject, documentarian Richard P. Rogers, it dissembles and remains at a distance from its audience. This lack of lovability isn’t surprising. The movie began as a documentary made by Rogers to chronicle his own life. […]
Posted inMusic
Museum screens ‘The Windmill Movie’ documentary
Alexander Olch’s documentary “The Windmill Movie” is a difficult film to like, and an impossible film to love. Like its subject, documentarian Richard P. Rogers, it dissembles and remains at a distance from its audience. This lack of lovability isn’t surprising. The movie began as a documentary made by Rogers to chronicle his own life. […]