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Inherent Vice is the first movie based on a novel by Thomas Pynchon. Whether or not there will be another any time soon is anyone’s guess. Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation (approved by Pynchon himself) is a rambling and largely incoherent tale. It’s supposed to be; its source was a rambling, convoluted soft-boiled detective tale, and Anderson’s … Continue reading
There’s half of a good movie scattered throughout Jack Reacher; unfortunately, it’s overwhelmed by the half that’s not so great. Produced with the intent to kick-start a franchise, it’s so workmanlike and dull that it’s likely to amount to little more than a one-off. That dullness is particularly off-putting, considering it is written and directed … Continue reading
We here at Movie Ink live by the maxim that “Being paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you”, and quite frankly we miss the Cold War. The world made more sense back then (in a surreal, Orwellian sort of way). The 50th anniversary of James Bond’s film career and the upcoming release of … Continue reading
Layered, ambitious, steeped in symbolism and philosophy, Cloud Atlas is almost everything you’d expect from a movie directed (or in this instance, co-directed) by the Wachowskis. “Almost” is a good thing in this instance, as the movie (based on David Mitchell’s novel) sheds most of the didacticism and visual excess that made the Matrix sequels … Continue reading
A tale told without sound or fury, nor signifying much of anything, Cosmopolis is a surprisingly inert film from writer-director David Cronenberg. It’s at least a step up from his previous project, last year’s A Dangerous Method, possibly the unsexiest and least-kinky movie about sexual deviance ever made). Whereas that movie was content to sleepwalk through its … Continue reading
A robust gangster drama with a kick like the white lightning that fuels its plot, Lawless manages to find a new take on old material, thanks largely to an ideal cast and strong source material. Director John Hillcoat (The Road) reunites with fellow Aussie and bad-boy musician, author, and occasional screenwriter Nick Cave to adapt … Continue reading
Colin Farrell is currently starring in Total Recall, a loose remake of the 1990 classic starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, itself a loose adaptation of a short story by Philip K. Dick (1928-82). One of the most visionary and influential speculative fiction authors ever, Dick’s works revolved around themes of the boundaries of identity and reality, and … Continue reading
Pulp space opera at its finest, John Carter is this year’s first truly fun piece of escapist filmmaking, arriving just in time to liven up a sluggish winter box office. Based on the 1912 novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan), the movie does a fair but choppy job of adapting … Continue reading
There’s no denying that Tilda Swinton gives a tour de force performance in director Lynne Ramsay’s adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. No less can be expected from one of the most talented working actors in the business, but the downside is that hers is a tour de force performance … Continue reading
One of the best movies about the movies ever made, John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust is an unsettling, unconventional blend of satire, gothic melodrama, and straight-up weirdness with a nerve-rattling, lunatic ending. The movie adapts Nathanael West’s 1939 novel about a talented young art director, Tod (William Atherton), who journeys to Hollywood and instantly … Continue reading
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