Because of a bloody embargo, I can’t yet share my thoughts on Tim Burton’s adaptation of the Sondheim musical, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Instead, here are clips from twelve musicals I love. Enjoy. Cabaret What good is sitting alone in your room? Top Hat “Cheek to Cheek” Hedwig and the Angry Inch [...]
-
"A fast, complex, exhilarating roadster ride through history and time.... Kino is an intoxicating Euro-brew, written with enormous skill and dedication." — Frederick Barthelme
"Jürgen Fauth's deft mashup of genre and historical period is both a full-throttle literary thriller of ideas and a contemplative examination of film and fascism. Kino is a debut of great intellectual force."– Teddy Wayne
"A surprising alternative history. Kino brings the golden age of German cinema to light with loving, sometimes gritty, detail and great precision." – Neal Pollack, author of Jewball.
"A delirious melange of conspiracy, magic, sex, history, bad behavior, and cinema, Kino is a stellar entertainment, and Jürgen Fauth is a writer of rare, sinister imagination." – Owen King, author of Reenactment
"A light-hearted romp that leads straight into darkness and back through the shadows on the wall."– Ben Loory, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day
"Movie nuts arise! A happy and felicitous debut."– Terese Svoboda
All posts tagged london
Atonement
A booby-trapped tale of wartime love and guilt, adapted from the great Ian McEwan, who has been mining the darker recesses of desire since First Love, Last Rites (1975). Joe Wright directs an excellent cast — Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave, and newcomer Saoirse Ronan — in what begins like a standard [...]
Posted by Jürgen on November 16, 2007
http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/11/16/atonement/
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
In anticipation of the sequel, Marcy and I rewatched the original 1998 movie, a solid historical drama with a healthy Godfather finish and an astounding performance by Cate Blanchett. The new film, also directed by Shekhar Kapur, picks up the story where it left off and sees the Virgin Queen through to the defeat of [...]
Posted by Jürgen on October 6, 2007
http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/10/06/elizabeth-the-golden-age/
Eastern Promises
I’m behind the curve on David Cronenberg’s Russian mobster tale of sin and redemption, so I’ll make this short. At any rate, I can’t discuss the narrative slights-of-hand I admired most without spoiling the film — so let’s just say that the acting by Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, and Armin Mueller-Stahl is top [...]
Posted by Jürgen on September 26, 2007
http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/09/26/eastern-promises/
The Bourne Ultimatum
Remember Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? The best thing about that movie (aside from the monkey brains) was the simple elegance of the plot. Indy’s in trouble, and every time he escapes, he finds himself in even more trouble — a cliffhanger blown up to feature-length. The Bourne series has extended a similar [...]
Posted by Jürgen on July 28, 2007
http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/07/28/the-bourne-ultimatum/
Venus
This vehicle for aging Peter O’Toole dances around places Lolita and Harold & Maude boldly went decades ago. Jodie Whittaker plays the sassy, underage object of an aging actor’s affections, and after a few dirty jokes and a drinking binge, there isn’t anywhere to go for Hanif Kureishi’s strangely timid screenplay. And so we wait [...]
Posted by Jürgen on June 25, 2007
http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/06/25/venus/
Fingersmith
This skilled BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters’ novel is a lesson in structure: the intricate plotting of the Victorian crime story has been simplified by screenwriter Peter Ransley, but the carefully layered revelations still affect and surprise. Casting is excellent, with Elaine Cassidy and Sally Hawkins as the tender lovers embroiled in Dickensian intrigue and [...]
Posted by Jürgen on May 17, 2007
http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/05/17/fingersmith-2/
Fingersmith
Marcy’s been raving about this Victorian crime/love story for months, and after finishing Against the Day, I finally got around to it. Fingersmith is a period mystery that begins with a tip of the hat to Oliver Twist but quickly finds its own ground: Susan Trinder, an orphaned London thief, is sent to a remote [...]
Posted by Jürgen on March 13, 2007
http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/03/13/fingersmith/
Tulpendiebe
