thirteen

thirteen
Film review by: Witney Seibold

The script for “thirteen” came from a collaboration between the director, Catherine Hardwicke, and a thirteen-year-old friend of hers, Nikki Reed (who also stars in the film).

The Order

The Order
Film review by: Witney Seibold

It’s ironic that the film is called “The Order,” when few films have less cohesion, less structure, less tidiness.

Home Room

Home Room
Film review by: Witney Seibold

“Home Room,” the story of the aftermath of the growing-ever-more-popular-as-a-film-subject high school shooting, is the first film effort from writer/director/editor Paul F. Ryan. It feels like it.

The Battle of Shaker Heights

The Battle of Shaker Heights
Film Review by: Witney Seibold

Kelly Ernswiler is a nerd with an esoteric fetish: war reenactment.

Le Divorce

Le Divorce
Film review by: Witney Seibold

It’s odd that a romantic comedy set in Paris, starring the undeniably talented Naomi Watts and the crowd-pleasing Kate Hudson, featuring a killer ensemble (among them: Stockard Channing, Bebe Neuwirth, Glenn Close, Matthew Modine, Sam Waterston from “Law & Order,” and Stephen Fry, as British as he can be), and made by the likes of Merchant/Ivory, can be so… flat.

Step Into Liquid

Step Into Liquid
Film review by: Witney Seibold

The central message behind Dana Brown’s new surfing documentary “Step Into Liquid” seems to be this: surfers love surfing.

Public Enemies

Public Enemies

Film review by: Witney Seibold

Michael Mann likes shooting on low-fi digital camcorders, giving his cold-blue crime flicks a stolid and immediate feeling. In “Collateral,” “The Insider,” and even his underrated film “Miami Vice,” he has managed to capture a gritty, intense look to his washed-out city streets and heartless, utilitarian crimefighters/criminals. The film stock itself seems to grow out of the concrete-encrusted artificiality of modern urban areas.

Twilight (2008)

Twilight (2008)

Film review by: Witney Seibold

I’m a late entrant into the world of “Twilight,” so what I have to say has probably already been said by other critics, but what kind of critic would I be if I actively chose not to view this huge piece of the recent pop culture gestalt?

The Series Project: Pokémon

The Series Project: Pokémon

Film article by: Witney Seibold

This is kind of an attempt to put into adult language something only children understand.

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.