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December 2006 Archive

December 1, 2006

The Nativity Story

Original star-crossed lovers flounder in dullest version of greatest story ever told

By Vadim Rizov

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Mondovino Takes the Scenic Route

Director Nossiter revisits his wine-world chronicle in 10-hour series premiering at MoMA

By Karen Kramer

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Cracking the Code

Film Forum revives the raunchy and restless with Fox Behind the Code program

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Screening Gotham: Naomi a Go Go No-Show

Also: Soderbergh backs out of his next NYC appearance, Four Eyed Monsters gets curious Times review

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December 4, 2006

Screening Gotham: You (Not) Talkin' to Me?

Also: Stallone finds Jesus, Musetto finds Tokyo

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NYC Premiere: Charlotte's Web

Fanning "animal-ed out," especially when it comes to her controversial Sundance debut Hounddog

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New This Week: Minghella Breaking and Entering into 92nd Street Y

Jude Law/Juliette Binoche Oscar bait replaces Soderbergh at last minute

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December 5, 2006

Dream On

In NYC preview, Condon discusses Murphy, Hudson and bringing Dreamgirls to the screen at last

By S.T. VanAirsdale

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Coffee, Cheese and Vertigo: Lynch Slays 'Em Downtown

"Inspiration is the main thing," filmmaker reminds capacity crowd at IFC Center

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Screening Gotham: Will Power at the Waldorf

Also: Harvey loses deputy, Arkin looks back

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December 6, 2006

Inland Empire

Is David Lynch's Hollywood hall of mirrors meta-punking you -- or just misunderstood?

By Michelle Orange

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Screening Gotham: Kasell Kruises From Hamptons

Also: Lumenick meets Lynch, Stuart meeets Posey

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Aliens in Our Midst

Art Fag City: Smack Mellon's Multiplex series continues with overlapping works on immigration

By Wayne Hodge

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Burman's Law Invoked at Makor

“I’m interested in misunderstandings,” director tells crowd at preview of new film Family Law

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Forsaking Oscar, Beyonce Lobbies For Gay Culture Sainthood

Heart on sleeve? Tongue in cheek? Does it really matter?

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InSolvEnt: Winick Shutting Down Indie Shingle

Microbudget indie "biting the dust" after six years -- and everything seemed so peachy only days ago

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December 7, 2006

Losing Their Place

As the Movie Place met its end, it showed why indie video shops still matter

By Daniel Nemet-Nejat

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Screening Gotham: Game On at Tribeca '07

Also: Robert Benton on sale, Factory Girl on ice

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Oscar Bloggers Get Out Their Belts for NBR Awards

Merciless smackdown no deterrent to studios jamming their laurels on posters and other ads

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"I Owe It All To Jonas Mekas"

Sarris and Hoberman discuss their absent friend's influence at BAM's launch of Village Voice Film Guide

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December 8, 2006

Off the Black

Vibrant screen chemistry doesn't quite burst Nolte melodrama's soapy bubble

By Eric Kohn

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Apocalypto

Gory, kinetic spectacle masks the flimsiness of Gibson's history lesson

By Michelle Orange

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The Holiday

Studio cheese log's polished charms can't overcome paint-by-numbers plot

By Michelle Orange

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Blood Diamond

Disingenuous issue film manages to deliver solid action thrills

By Vadim Rizov

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Out 1 in a Million

Surviving (and enjoying) the first-ever American screening of Rivette's 12-hour-plus epic

By Aaron Hillis

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Screening Gotham: The Weinsteins Find God

Also: Yoko Ono wants justice, Kyle Smith needs a nap

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Black Friday: Ponsoldt's Debut Opens at Last

Eleven months (and a handful of new music cues) after Sundance, Nolte's winning performance to screen in NYC

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December 9, 2006

BREAKING: Kirk Douglas's Head-Exploding Birthday Wish

Hey, kid -- it's my birthday! And your problem! It was 90 years ago...

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December 11, 2006

Screening Gotham: Diamonds and Dust-Up

Also: What Edelstein loves, what Adams hates

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When Robots (From Brooklyn) Attack!

McKenney's robot-rage allegory Automatons digs in for December at the Pioneer

By S.T. VanAirsdale

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NYC Critics Orgs Toast The Queen, United 93

Also: Mirren, Whitaker lauded once again; Borat as "non-fiction film" runner-up?

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More From the NYFCC: Sarris Bathroom Break Thwarts Linklater Glory

It's no coincidence the man's second choice was Flushed Away

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Kyle Smith Masters the Allusion, If Not the Language

"And then Santa extinguished his blunt in a 40 of King Cobra..."

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December 12, 2006

"Just the Facts, Ma'am": Stone Brings WTC to MoMA

"What makes me particularly proud is that I believe we got it right," filmmaker tells audience

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Screening Gotham: Rinko's Ki-Coochie Wins Nudity Accolade

Also: Actress-habitat bus tours, Weinsteins pretend to be interviewed

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Lynch, Inland Empire Boom in NYC

Anonymous crazy-ass sits through three consecutive screenings as engagement breaks three-day IFC Center record

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El Topo Sorpresa: Mystery Guest SCRATCHED for Wednesday Opening

Show to go on without historic intro, or something

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December 13, 2006

The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser

Scathing comedy of manners is also Herzog's most affecting character study

By Eric Kohn

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El Topo

Jodorowsky's restored cult classic a singular experience to be had, not a story to be followed

By Aaron Hillis

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Sympathy for the Devil

De Niro's excellent Good Shepherd upends spy-movie convention with tragic glimpse at early CIA

By S.T. VanAirsdale

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Screening Gotham: Peter Guber Takes Staten Island to Next Level

Also: Cindy Adams goes ticketless, NYC mourns Boyle

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December 14, 2006

The Pursuit of Happyness

Will Smith vehicle loses its ring of truth to the trappings of truthiness

By Aaron Hillis

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Screening Gotham: "No Such Thing as Bad Publicity" Edition

Also: Black Christmas critics see red, Yoko needs a ride

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Shadows Stretch a Little Longer

Melville revival returns after half-hearted NYFCC accolades

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December 15, 2006

Home of the Brave

Hopelessly inadequate Iraq drama gunning for worst film of the year

By Vadim Rizov

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The Good German

There's a conceit to offend every movie-lover in Soderbergh's honorable failure

By Vadim Rizov

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Dreamgirls

Despite best intentions, Broadway adaptation resembles variety show with too many hollow acts

By Aaron Hillis

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The Secret Life of Words

Silence is golden for Polley and Robbins in Coixet's strangely sensual drama

By Michelle Orange

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The Little DiVA That Couldn't

Art Fag City: The best videos in Miami's art fairs were from New York -- but where were all the buyers?

By Paddy Johnson

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Screening Gotham: Sundance, Here They Come

Also: Dargis bitchslaps Good German, Anderson jabs at Crash

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Spanking the Monkey Town

Pornstar Pets (right) among highlights of venue's Third Annual Porn Week

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NYC Buyer Picks Up Dawson Rape Film

"Shocking, controversial and graphic" Descent is "not a revenge thriller," says subtle distributor

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December 18, 2006

Screening Gotham: NYU Film Empire Reaches Asia

Also: Rocky mythbreakers call "Bullshit!", Lyonne's four-legged fan club calls "Woof!"

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Monsters Ball: Buice and Crumley on Their $100,000 Score

"That's the other thing that nobody understands: We've never really considered our film done. Until today."

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BAM Prepared to Skate by in February

You know it's all downhill for '07 after Gotham Girls Roller Derby tribute

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December 19, 2006

Showing No Restraint

Art Fag City: Alison Chernick's new documentary digs for meaning in the world of Matthew Barney

By Paddy Johnson

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December 20, 2006

The Case of the Grinning Cat

Marker documentary a striking blend of lyricism and political commentary

By Eric Kohn

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Letters From Iwo Jima

Eastwood's flip-side war epic ponders Japanese soldiers' choice between life and honor.

By Matt Singer

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Rocky Balboa

Punchy with self-reflexivity, Stallone swan song is unremarkable -- and that's a good thing.

By Eric Kohn

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Woody Allen, Thespian?

Reeler critics Matt Singer and Vadim Rizov on the filmmaker's time in front of the camera -- for better or worse

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Prose by Any Other Name

Finding comic salvation by accident in Woody's collected writings

By Michelle Orange

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Le Woody, C'est Moi

An Upper East Sider recalls growing up under the director's influence

By Andrew Grant

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Film Forum's Allen Retrospective Gets City Talking

Weinstein, Kopple, LaBute, Dargis and other New York culture all-stars reflect on best of Woody's work

By Karen Kramer and S.T. VanAirsdale

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Screening Gotham: Adulterous, Guilt-Ridden Sex Wins Big with Women Critics

Also: Jonas Mekas will distribute at least 37 films by the time Factory Girl sees the light of day

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December 21, 2006

Curse of the Golden Flower

Clumsy, impersonal spectacle may be the worst movie Zhang Yimou has ever made

By Vadim Rizov

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"I Can Die Now": Arkin Celebrated at Lincoln Center

Veteran actor chats up blind luck, missed opportunities and hard work before screening of Little Miss Sunshine

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Screening Gotham: Rocky Balboa is Liz Smith's Fault

Also: Film Comment critics' poll hits street, DGA screener "controversy" hits bottom

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Like a Wonky, Pasty Phoenix, Voice Critics' Poll Rises at indieWIRE

Mr. Lazarescu takes top spot in Lim & Co.'s return to cinephilic scorekeeping

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December 22, 2006

Screening Gotham: Finicky Christians Whack New Line Over Nativity

Also: Zacharek lights up Iwo Jima, Carr not getting much sleep

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The Good Shepherd

Untold story of the CIA a dry espionage drama of epic impassivity

By Aaron Hillis

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Handle With Care: Can Filmmakers Deal With the Truth?

When it comes to film reporting and criticism, honesty evidently isn't always the best policy

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December 25, 2006

Children of Men

Alfonso Cuaron's surprisingly cogent fable the activist achievement of the year

By Eric Kohn

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December 26, 2006

The Painted Veil

Norton and Watts battle cholera and each other in finely wrought Maugham adaptation

By Michelle Orange

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All His Children

Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón on Children of Men, influences and "the Sept. 11 of sound"

By Ray Pride

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December 27, 2006

Notes on a Scandal

Dench and Blanchett deliver the giddy rush of a first-class face-off

By Michelle Orange

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Defending Miss Potter

Don't call it a chick flick, says star/producer Zellweger

By Vadim Rizov

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Screening Gotham: Like Sugar and Spike: Lee to Helm Brown Biopic

Also: New Yorkers working through holiday, George Hickenlooper drinking through post-post-production

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"And Here I Was Being Offered This Funny Old Lady..."

Scandal screenwriter Patrick Marber checks his Notes with The Reeler

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December 28, 2006

The Top 10 of Top 10 Lists of 2006, Part I

The Reeler's second annual look back at the misconceived hype that mattered

By S.T. VanAirsdale

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Screening Gotham: Woody Allen, Now in Convenient Blog Form

Also: Another Look at Kubrick, untruth in advertising for NYC indie

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O'Hehir: Out With the Old, In With the Old-ish

News flash: Mini-majors had a good year, indies still impossible to define

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New Times Update: LA Weekly Poll Arrives; Chain Chops High-Paid DVD Columnist

Syndicated DVD reviews save America's biggest weekly chain mid- to low-four figures annually

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December 29, 2006

The Dead Girl

Joyless L.A. melodrama a host of dreary indie clichés

By Vadim Rizov

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The Tiger and the Snow

Dreamy Benigni schticks it up -- in Iraq

By Vadim Rizov

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Pan's Labyrinth

Six knock-out minutes redeem del Toro's mystical examination of the Spanish Civil War

By Vadim Rizov

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The Top 10 of Top 10 Lists of 2006, Part II

Selecting the best of this year's hype, hypocrisy and general self-importance

By S.T. VanAirsdale

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Screening Gotham: Understanding Armond

Also: The Talbots speak! Invincible explained!

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Factory Girl Opens in Exile; Hickenlooper Haunts the Rumor Mill

Angry director offers bounty for head of shadowy online detractor

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Del Toro: "Thank God I'm Not in Charge of the Parenting Board"

The Pan's Labyrinth director makes a case for taking the kids to his brilliant, bloody fable

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