September 12, 2005

Two-Second TIFF Reviews

Mary (d. Abel Ferrara)
Third-tier Ferrara, as evidenced by his choice of star (Matthew Modine). ** (out of four)

Heading South (Vers le sud) (d. Laurent Cantet)
Cantet works in dread the way some work in oils. A much-needed antidote to the twee likes of Ladies in Lavender. *** (out of four)

Takeshis' (d. Takeshi Kitano)
A kind of career summary for Beat by way of Buñuel; heard outside the screening: "Was that a comedy?" Short answer: yes. ***1/2 (out of four)

1 comment:

Bill C said...

This is actually Modine's second film for Ferrara, and I think he's better in this than he was in The Blackout. If there's a problem with the performance itself, it's that Modine is no kind of stand-in for Mel Gibson (on whom the Modine character is obviously meant to riff), so the satire lands with a pretty soft thud.