Movie reviews – Nov 8 to 21

Movie reviews – Nov 8 to 21

SKYFALL Astra 2: November 12, 13 Daniel Craig is back for the third time as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In Skyfall, Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to

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Thu 08 Nov 2012 1:00 AM

SKYFALL

Astra 2: November 12,
13

Daniel Craig
is back for the third time as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd
adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In Skyfall, Bond’s
loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under
attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the
cost. Very well received by the critics and the public, and said to be the best
Bond ever. ‘Skyfall is pretty much all you could want from a 21st Century Bond:
cool but not camp, respectful of tradition but up to the moment, serious in its
thrills and relatively complex in its characters but with the sense of fun that
hasn’t always been evident lately’ (Empire).
‘Putting the “intelligence” in MI6, Skyfall reps a smart, savvy and incredibly
satisfying addition to the 007 oeuvre, one that places Judi Dench’s M at the
center of the action’ (Variety). ‘All
of which works terrifically well up to a point’ (The Guardian).

 

 

ARGO

Fulgor: November 8-13

Based on
real events, this dramatic thriller chronicles the life-or-death covert
operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran
hostage crisis, focusing on the little-known role that the CIA and Hollywood
played-information that was not declassified until many years after the event.
‘A superbly crafted and darkly funny real-life political thriller, with
pitch-perfect performances’ (USA Today).
‘The results are nothing less than sensational’ (Wall Street Journal).

 

 

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN-PART 2

Fulgor: November 14-21

Part 2 of
the last chapter of the Stephenie Meyer saga. After the birth of Renesmee, the
Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false
allegation that puts the family at risk of attack from the Volturi. A final
showdown is inevitable. The leads are back in their customary roles for the
finale.

 

 

THE RADIANT

The Odeon: November 21

As part of
the 50 Days of Cinema, Lo Schermo dell’Arte film festival of contemporary art
features for its opening film the Italian premiere in the presence of the
artists of The Radiant by the Otolith Group (in English and Japanese, with
English subtitles). Presented at Documenta 13, the work by the British
collective, founded by Kodwu Eshun and Anjalika Sagar, is an investigation of
the Fukushima disaster, developed by mixing various sources and visual
documents from past and present. A conversation between the artists and Silvia
Lucchesi, director of Lo Schermo dell’Arte film festival, will follow.

 

SAVAGES

Astra 2: November 19, 20

Oliver
Stone, indulging his dark side, takes a look at the horrors of the Mexican drug
trade. Cartels versus individual producers with a shared girlfriend in the
middle, not to mention the FBI. ‘Savages is Oliver Stone doing what he should
have done a long time ago: making a tricky, amoral, down-and-dirty crime
thriller that’s blessedly free of any social, topical, or political relevance’
(Entertainment Weekly). ‘Savages is a
daylight noir, a western, a stoner buddy movie and a love story, which is to
say that it is a bit of a mess. But also a lot of fun, especially as its pulp
elements rub up against some gritty geopolitical and economic themes’ (New York Times). ‘Sadly, Savages plays
up to Stone’s worst tendencies: machismo, bombast and self-indulgence, and the
factor that could conceivably have made this movie tolerable-humour-is off the
menu’ (The Guardian).

 

The Ken Russell retrospective continues, featuring his
two controversial American movies from 1980 and 1984 respectively.

 

 

ALTERED STATES

November 14, 8pm

Scientist
Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) devolves via hallucinogenic drugs and sensory
deprivation experiments into an ape-like creature that may or may not be the
origin of the species. ‘Dependably-even exhilaratingly-bizarre. Its
strangeness, which borders cheerfully on the ridiculous, is its most enjoyable
feature’ (New York Times). ‘Has
energy to spare, with appropriate match-up of baroque visual style to special
effects intensive material’ (Variety).
‘I was overwhelmed, I was caught up in its headlong energy’ (Roger Ebert).

 

 

CRIMES OF PASSION

November 21, 8pm

Joanna
Crane/China Blue is a professional career woman on two fronts: sportswear
designer by day, prostitute by night. A deranged preacher (Antony Perkins)
tries to save her. ‘First and foremost, an extremely uninhibited satire on
American sexual dreams and nightmares … It relies on sheer pace and stylistic
bravura, and talks dirty more wittily than anything since Bogart and Bacall.
There are lapses, but this is in the main a comedy so black that it recaptures
some of cinema’s long-lost power to shock’ (Time
Out). ‘Good performances and an interesting idea are metamorphosed into one
of the silliest movies in a long time’ (Roger Ebert).

 

 

Astra2

piazza Beccaria – tel. 055
2343666

www.cinehall.it

Odeon

Piazza Strozzi, 2 – tel.
055/295051

www.cinehall.it, www.odeon.intoscana.it

Fulgor

via Maso Finiguerra – tel.
055/2381881

www.staseraalcinema.it

 

The
British Institute

Lungarno Guicciardini 9

tel. 055/267781

www.britishinstitute.it

 

For
showtimes, see websites above.

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