Taking Woodstock

August 30, 2009 at 9:23am PST

Tags: Almost Famous, Ang Lee, Behind the Scenes, Demetri Martin, Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening, Taking Woodstock

Photos: Focus Features

Taking Woodstock, Ang Lee’s latest film about the accidents, desperation, and missteps which led to the 1969 generation-defining concert, shares certain key elements with Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. They both chronicle the power of music to band and unite, or tear asunder; each illuminates a generation through rock ‘n’ roll; and both are responsible for introducing a rapturously captivating star.

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See It or Skip It: Taking Woodstock

Thursday August 27, 2009

Tags: Ang Lee, Demetri Martin, Jonathan Groff, See it or Skip it, Taking Woodstock

Ang Lee's new film Taking Woodstock is something I wanted to love, but it's a sad fail on the typically brilliant director's part. Demetri Martin, who's stand up depends on his ability to make the audience uncomfortable thanks to his inertia, comes off as vacuous and dull, utterly unable to heft the load of playing the film's lead. If it weren't for Jonathan Groff, Tony-nominated Broadway darling and former star of Spring Awakening, this movie would be a total loss. Disjointed, uninvolving and somehow without a decent soundtrack (wha?

Quentin Tarantino Returns to Cannes

April 24, 2009 at 7:37am PST

Tags: Ang Lee, Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, Colin Farrell, Heath Ledger, Inglourious Basterds, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Ken Loach, Looking for Eric, Palme d'Or, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, Taking Woodstock, Terry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Photos: splashnewsonline.com

Quentin Tarantino is returning to Cannes, the film festival where his second movie, a film that changed cinema forever, Pulp Fiction, won the prestigious Palme d’Or in 1994.

Quentin’s new movie, Inglourious Basterds, about a group of Jewish-American soldiers on a covert mission to brutally terrorize Nazis during the French occupation, will be competing against Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, Looking for Eric, which was directed by Ken Loach, who won the Palme d’Or in 2006 for The Wind That Shook the Barley, and 17 other films.

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Law Abiding Citizen See It or Skip It

F. Gary Gray's latest effort, Law Abiding Citizen, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, is a knockout! Exhilirating, wry and breathcatchingly paced, it's a stellar accomplishment for everyone involved. Hell yeah you should see it!

The Boys Are Back See It or Skip It

Scott Hicks, the director of Shine, and Clive Owen teamed up for this gloriously beautiful if underwhelming project. It's not that it's bad, it's just not that memorable and with such supreme talent attached, I was hoping for and expecting a lot more.

Jennifer's Body See it or Skip it

Oh, Diablo Cody, why'd you have to do it? I love you so long...and then you made this. Megan Fox does what she always does, she looks hot. At least there's that. Sophmoric, unfunny and obsessively idiosyncratic, it's a painful movie going experience.

See It or Skip It: World's Greatest Dad

Chocolate and peanut butter. Spaghetti and meatballs. Bobcat Goldthwait and profanity. Two great tastes that taste great together. Gone is the Bobcat of the Police Academy movies and in his stead is a fantastic writer-director who's able to orchestrate the most brilliantly, hilarious vulgarity imaginable. World's Greatest Dad is a fantastic dark comedy (very dark) that features Robin Williams' best performance since Good Will Hunting. See it!