The Series Project: Pokémon

The Series Project: Pokémon

Film article by: Witney Seibold

 

            I was going to start this essay with a battery of excuses as to why I, an adult male, have information on the universe of “Pokémon.” Why do I, someone in their early 30s, have intimate knowledge of the construction of “Pokémon” video games, opinions of the dramatic throughline of the “Pokémon” television series, or video copies of 9 of the 11 “Pokémon” movies? I will make no excuses other than to say my ex-girlfriend got me into it. If you want more, you’ll have to ask me personally.

Moon

Moon

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

            I usually don’t try to second-guess films. If I can see a plot twist or a surprise ending coming, I’ll still allow the film to tell it to me in its own idiom; it’s not the surprise itself that will necessarily grab me, but the skill with which it is given. I always know that Othello with die at the end of the play, but a good production will make me think he won’t once again.

Dead Snow

Dead Snow

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

            While a careful review about the film’s pacing, tone, themes, and performances is more appropriate to an author of my standing (or pretentiousness, take your pick), all I really need to say to get you to decide whether or not you want to see “Dead Snow” is the following two-word phrase:

 

            Zombie Nazis.

 

Surveillance

Surveillance

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

            Every character in Jennifer Lynch’s “Surveillance” is a bundle of hissing, seething, violent nerves. They all badger one another, spit vitriol in each other faces, snap at one another in sweaty, bestial fury. That a few of them are criminals and perhaps even killers comes naturally in a universe like this.

The Proposal

The Proposal

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

            Actress and choreographer Anne Fletcher directed “The Proposal,” and, I’m a little embarrassed to admit, I have now seen all of Fletcher’s films.

Whatever Works

Whatever Works

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

            After several films in Europe, Woody Allen returns to his local digs on Manhattan. This time, he is paired up with west-coast neurotic Larry David of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame, and filming a screenplay he originally wrote back in the 1970s for no one less than Zero Mostel.

 

            Sadly, Larry David is less than Zero Mostel.

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

3rd-Grade Dimension
Film review by: Witney Seibold

            I have a personal genre I apply to certain films; one that can be applied to “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.” That is the genre of Films I Would Have Loved When I was 10.

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit

Film review by: Witney Seibold

            When people refer to Hollywood sentimentality or schmaltz, they’re talking about films like “Seabiscuit.”

Garage Days

Garage Days
Film review by: Witney Seibold

            Australian director Alex Proyas is best known in this country (as of 2003) for his two surreal and nightmarishly beautiful science fiction films “The Crow” and “Dark City,” and while he’s expressed in interviews that he wants to sidle away from genre films, it’s still something of a shock to see him helming a film as bright, as energetic, and with such an ordinary story as “Garage Days.”

Dirty Pretty Things

Dirty Pretty Things
Film review by: Witney Seibold

            Stephen Frears has given us a mixed bag over the years.