Inside Llewyn Davis
Smoke and Fears Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan Review written by Robert D. Patrick Siphoned of robust brush strokes and pastoral imagery, the Coens evoke a very somber, sometimes morally diaphanous 1960s. There is color, but the plumes of cigarette smoke make the proceedings almost monochrome. Our protagonist – if we can call him that – is a struggling artist of the obligatory kind. Adorned with a crestfallen lyrics...
Interview w/ Chastity Belt
‘We Don’t Have to Hide Behind Anything Now’ The rowdy, carbonated, guitar tenderizing music of Chastity Belt hails from Walla Walla, Washington. Through a cocktail of venomous riffs and feet stomping snark that bruises amps, the band released one of the best records of 2013. Lead singer Julia Shapiro’s sonic, booming vocals soar over the proceedings in a powerful – sometimes ethereal – way...
Saving Mr. Banks
DiZzzZZzney’s World Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks Review written by Robert D. Patrick Saving Mr. Banks is about the daffy, carbonated personality of Walt Disney and the buttoned, stiff-shirted sensibilities of author P.L. Travers (don’t you dare call her Pamela, or she’ll have biblical hornets descend upon you). Of course the emotionally marred, stuffy protagonist ends up rosy despite her thorns by the end of...
The Last Days on Mars
Star Blech Starring: Liev Schreiber, Olivia Williams Review written by Robert D. Patrick Ah, makeshift habitats erected in space. Sterile ivory chambers that are crosshatched with artificial light? Check. Blinking keypads in a padded labyrinth of human megalomania? Tick that box. These are typical sights for films dealing with space exploration. Never forget that our species wanders in an incubator comprised of eggshell safety. The...
Out of the Furnace
Sticks and Stones Starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck Review written by Robert D. Patrick Scott Cooper’s windswept, booze soaked, throaty debut won the bedraggled Jeff Bridges an Oscar in 2010. Cooper’s opus, a film about a weathered country singer on the precipice of demise, was a minimalist project that worked because of the steel guitar twang and the gutsy, visceral performance of its lead. “I felt like if we...
Bettie Page Reveals All
A Page Unwritten Review written by Robert D. Patrick Bettie Page’s flippant cascade of hair, pouring over her forehead in a coy, puckering expression of cavalier openness has become synonymous with the taboo architecture of the 1950s and beyond. Whether posing with open arms and breezy bathing suits or slithering around in the leather-laden recesses of eyebrow-craning acts of bondage, Page was an actress that enjoyed the trained...
