NYC Film Critic

It’s only September, but Jeff Nichols’ marvelous sophomore feature Take Shelter is sitting on top of my Best of 2011 list.  Read my review of this utterly unique American parable and the rest of this week’s TWoP content by following the links below.

Take Shelter: The Storm is Threatening
Margaret: The Only Living Girl in New York
50/50: Life As He Knew It
New York Film Festival Preview
Long Delayed Films
Life After Bond
I Want My DVD
TV on DVD
Community Recap
Serious Subjects, Funny Movies
Act Together, Stay Together?
TV’s Worst Alpha Males

The fall’s first big Oscar hopeful, Moneyball, arrives in theaters today.  Originally set to be directed by Steven Soderbergh, the movie instead bears the imprint of Bennett Miller, best known as the director of Capote.  I’m sad that we’ll never get a chance to see what Soderbergh planned to do with the material, but the movie Miller produced is pretty good on its own terms.  Read my review at TWoP as well as the rest of this week’s content, including my detailed analysis of the Prime Suspect pilot.

Moneyball: How To Succeed In Baseball Without Really Trying
Killer Elite: Why It Disappoints
Puncture: Captain America, Attorney-At-Law
Seven Movie Characters Whose Pasts Are a Lie
Using Sabermetrics to Analyze the Moneyball Movie
I Want My DVD
Prime Suspect Recap
TV on DVD
Six Degrees of Jason Statham
Building a Real All Star Team

I don’t generally get very personal in my reviews, but in the case of The Lion King it felt appropriate somehow.  I wanted to work through how this viewing of the film differed from my first seventeen years ago and also talk about how the movie played for my young son, who tagged along with me.  I’m quite pleased with the way the finished piece turned out; maybe we’ll try it again when his first viewing of Star Wars rolls around.  Check out that review and the rest of this week’s TWoP coverage below.

The Lion King: Fathers and Sons 
Drive: Ease on Down the Road
Restless: Live Like You Were Dying
Straw Dogs: Unleash the Hounds
I Don’t Know How She Does It: And I Don’t Care
Up All Night: Mommy’s Alright, Daddy’s Alright
TV on DVD
I Want My DVD
I Want My VOD
Working Moms in Movies
Ryan Gosling: Cinema’s Worst Boyfriend?

Two men enter, one man leaves in the MMA-themed Warrior, an irresistibly corny and completely addictive male melodrama/fight movie.  Also out in theaters this weekend is Steven Soderbergh’s excellent virus procedural Contagion.  Reviews of both movies lead off my round-up of TWoP stories from the past week.

Warrior: Gonna Fly Now
Contagion: Captain Trips Rides Again
Best Movie Title Bouts
I Want My DVD
TV on DVD
How to Recognize the Signs of a Cinematic Outbreak
Hey, You Look Familiar…
9/11: 10 Years, 10 Movies

The indie rock doc Echotone offers an intriguing look at the Austin music scene as well as the larger changes taking place in the city itself.  While it doesn’t combine these twin narratives as effectively as it perhaps could, it’s still well worth seeing for anyone interesting in the subject or movies like Dig and Some Kind of Monster.  Read my full review at Film Journal.

Jessica Chastain and Helen Mirren embody the past and present versions of the same Mossad operative in the new thriller The Debt, a passable potboiler that plays like the cinematic equivalent of good airplane fiction.  The actors elevate it, the ending almost ruins it.  Get my full thoughts over at TWoP and also check out my review of Kevin Smith’s latest and a post about the state of horror movies today.

The Debt: Keep On Playing Those Spy Games 
Red State: God’s Lonely Man
The Sorry State of Contemporary Horror Movies
I Want My DVD
TV on DVD
The Six TV Superhero Shows That Should Be Rebooted
Kevin Smith’s Most Hateable Characters
Five Thoughts About The Hunger Games Trailer