John Jarzemsky

Tribeca 2013 Review: STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS Proves A Unique And Lyrical Journey On The Autistic Spectrum
Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors is one of those rare tone poems that successfully straddles the line between an abstract avalanche of emotions and images and true narrative, complete with arcs, climax, and resolution. It's the story of a... More »
  

Tribeca 2013 Review: THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI Lacks Novelty And The Figurative Punch, But Provides Plenty of The Literal Kind

Muhammad Ali, aka Cassius Clay, is one of the most famous boxers in history, and one of the more recognizable names in all of sports. His legendary strength, speed, power, and his incredible brashness and pride set him apart from... More »
  

Tribeca 2013 Review: OXYANA Is A Beautiful And Savage Documentary On The Plague Of Addiction
Oxyana is not a story about redemption. The feature-length documentary from director Sean Dunne, who brought us the most revealing look at a maligned subculture with his mini-doc, American Juggalo, is just about as bleak as it gets. With content... More »
  

Tribeca 2013 Review: FLEX IS KINGS Liberates And Enchants

Those addicted to documentaries will immediately recall David LaChappelle's 2005 film Rize once they've read the plot summary of Deidre Schoo and Michael Beach Nichols' fascinating Flex is Kings. The two films are certainly not dissimilar, but in the end,... More »
  

Tribeca 2013: Short Film Round-Up
There are plenty of features to catch during this year's Tribeca Film Festival. There are also just as many shorts. For those of you in town who can't quite decide which short film blocks to catch, and for those of... More »
  

Tribeca 2013: Twitch Picks 17 Can't Miss Titles
Time to raise that curtain up! The Tribeca Film Fest starts tonight! We've already brought you plenty of previews with our looks at the Galas and Midnighters, the Documentary and Narrative Competitions, the Special Screenings and Shorts, and the... More »
  

SXSW 2013 Review: DOWNLOADED is a Fascinating Look at Our Wired Times
Downloaded is a great documentary for many reasons. The greatest of these might be its effortless and uncanny ability to throw into stark relief just how massively the world of computers and the Internet has radically changed in just... More »
  

SXSW 2013 Review: COLDWATER Is Lukewarm
Shedding light on important issues through the power of narrative filmmaking can be a tricky proposition. The very nature of fictional storytelling can sometimes make the issues brought to the forefront seem less worthy of inspection (ie: "it's just a... More »
  

SXSW 2013 Review: MILIUS Sparks New Interest in a Brilliant Filmmaker
They say that in Hollywood, you're only as good as your last picture. It's a good thing nobody told the wunderkinds of yesteryear, otherwise documentarians Joey Figueroa and Zak Knuston might never have given us Milius, an exhaustingly comprehensive chronicle... More »
  

SXSW 2013 Review: EVIL DEAD Commits Firmly to Disturbing Brutality
This is not a review of an old movie. Yes, Fede Alvarez clearly owes a great deal to horror maestro Sam Raimi, who penned and directed the original The Evil Dead back in 1981, and yes, Alvarez's film is a... More »
  

Review: HABIBI Is An Earnest If Familiar Love Story
Susan Youssef's first feature Habibi is an earnest if not entirely impressive tale of forbidden love set in Israeli-occupied Palestine. While the film does stir and touch at appropriate moments, the threads of a tried-and-true narrative ultimately fail to come... More »
  

Review: CITADEL is Creepy, Atmospheric, and Packed Full of Quality Scares
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, or as the case may be with Citadel, a group of violent, marauding child-demons is exactly that. Cirian Foy's first feature film is nearly everything a horror film should be: creepy, atmospheric, and... More »
  

Review: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN Journeys Into Musical Obscurity
[With the film opening today in the UK and tomorrow in the US, we revisit our review from SXSW.] Better late than never seems to be the recurring theme of Searching for Sugar Man, which follows the rise and stagnation... More »
  

Review: NESTING, A Non-Stop Parade of Yuppie Problems
I wanted to start this review by saying that for all its faults, at least Nesting is bland and inoffensive, but that statement's only half-true. While the endlessly tedious and humdrum feature by John Chuldenko is indeed bland, there's plenty... More »
  

SXSW 2012 Review: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN
Better late than never seems to be the recurring theme of Searching for Sugar Man, which follows the rise and stagnation of Rodriguez (a theme regrettably revisited by this late review). After releasing his debut album, Cold Fact, in 1970,... More »
  

SXSW 2012 Review: COMPLIANCE Presents Cheap, Dishonest Thrills
An interesting thing happened while I was viewing Compliance. It's something that might be unique to a festival viewing experience, but it nonetheless brings a few of the film's problems to the forefront. Let me explain: This feature from... More »
  

SXSW 2012 Review: CITADEL
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, or as the case may be with Citadel, a group of violent, marauding child-demons is exactly that. Cirian Foy's first feature film is nearly everything a horror film should be: creepy, atmospheric,... More »
  

SXSW 2012 Review: THE DO-DECA PENTATHLON
It's hard to argue, at this point, that Jay and Mark Duplass have not come into their own. The two brothers now have several feature films under their belts, and have only grown into more refined and mature artists... More »
  

SXSW 2012 Review: KID-THING
Kid-Thing is not, by any means, a terrible movie. The latest effort from brothers David and Nathan Zellner is the tale of a young girl caught in less than ideal circumstances, and at its core, the idea is somewhat... More »
  

SXSW 2012 Review: THE TAIWAN OYSTER
At some point in our lives, we all come face to face with a fact that may haunt us for the rest of our days: nearly everything about our existence is impermanent. The best we can possibly hope to... More »
  
 
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More Is Not Always Better. Extended EMPIRES OF THE DEEP Trailer Every Bit As Laughable As The First.
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Twitchvision: Talking STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, MUD and THE ICEMAN
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Featured Articles

Twitchvision: Talking STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, MUD and THE ICEMAN

Another Twitchvision chat with Scott Laurie, this time me gushing about J.J.'s latest Star Trek film, which I unabashedly loved.Also talked about he fabbo Mud, and the less fabbo The Iceman, both with Michael Shannon doing his thing.Video embedded below.Update: Was asked to come in today and pick a few... More »

Learning from the Masters of Cinema: Henri-Georges Clouzot's THE MURDERER LIVES AT 21

While Henri-Georges Clouzot is best remembered for many of his later films, including The Wages of Fear and Diabolique, the French filmmaker's 1942 debut has gone largely unseen by Western audiences until now. The Murderer Lives at 21 (L'Assassin Habite au 21), based on the novel by Belgian author Stanislas-Andre... More »

China Beat: What did China See in IRON MAN 3?

Much has already been written, both on these pages and many others, about the landmark Hollywood-China co-production that is Marvel and DMG Entertainment's Iron Man 3. The film, directed by Shane Black, is the third solo outing for Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, and has proved a phenomenal success around... More »

FEAR & LOATHING AT CANNES, PART 2: I'M IN LOVE WITH EVERYBODY'S GIRL

CHAPTER 4: THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANNA KARINA AND BUTT PLUGSI'm sitting outside at a small Café that my editor told me to meet him at. I'm a 10 minute walk from the Marche Du Film convention hall and I'm still waiting for my editor to arrive so he take guide... More »

CINEMA HOLOCAUST ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA, PART 1: THOSE GOD DAMN FILM BLOGGERS

MIKE'S JOURNAL. MAY 13. MORNINGI wake up sometime around five AM. My flight to France doesn't leave until five PM. I should be there for security check in sometime around 3PM. There is no reason for me to be up this early but I'm feeling anxious. I have an itch... More »
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