This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press. LAST DAYS **½ The drug-addled rock star wandering through this film is named Blake, but he’s obviously supposed to be. Kurt Cobain. (It even says so on the DVD cover, but not in the script — probably for legal reasons.) Director Gus Van Sant has… Continue reading DVD review: ‘Last Days’
Tag: film review
Film review: ‘Death of Mr. Lazarescu’
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press. THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU **** A fictional feature that seems as real as a documentary, this Romanian film follows a poor, ailing man’s night-long odyssey through a maze of ambulances and hospitals leading to the inevitable ending foretold by the title. Along the way,… Continue reading Film review: ‘Death of Mr. Lazarescu’
DVD review: Myrna Loy & William Powell films
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press. MYRNA LOY AND WILLIAM POWELL COLLECTION **1/2 The old “Thin Man” mystery-comedies starring Myrna Loy and William Powell as debonair sleuths are the epitome of breezy old-style Hollywood entertainment. Each one feels like a visit with old friends, so it’s natural to want more. As it… Continue reading DVD review: Myrna Loy & William Powell films
DVD review: Bela Tarr films
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press. WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES **** Six years after it was made, this masterpiece of surrealism by iconoclastic Hungarian director Bela Tarr is finally available on DVD in the U.S., thanks to Chicago’s Facets Video. In this gorgeously filmed black-and-white epic, peculiar and menacing events happen for reasons… Continue reading DVD review: Bela Tarr films
Film review: ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (2004)
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE *** Director Jonathan Demme keeps up a fever pitch in this delirious nightmare of political paranoia, but despite some compelling action, it’s never as convincing as John Frankenheimer’s version from 1962. The original must have seemed joltingtly surreal when it first came… Continue reading Film review: ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (2004)