Somewhere out there exits a small Tibetan child with the wisdom and insight of an aged Buddhist monk.
The documentary “Unmistaken Child” follows the search for just such a child, the host body of a reincarnated philosopher ready to share his thoughts with the world anew.
“Child” begins with a cursory explanation of how the Buddhist reincarnation process works. The enlightened ones, or Lamas, are able to choose how they are reincarnated, which leaves the less enlightened ones with the task of figuring out which baby is the new version of the old master.
Here, that mission falls to Tenzin Zopa, a Nepalese monk, who served Tibetan master Geshe Lama Konchog for 21 years. When the master passed in 2001, it became Zopa’s duty to find his reincarnated master.
The film doesn’t stop to explain the rules and rituals behind these 700 year old traditions. We must simply absorb them and move on.
If only the story itself did the same.
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It keeps getting harder to separate Woody Allen the filmmaker from the tabloid generating artist.
Allen brings it on himself, dealing with issues that dovetail directly with his own personal life. Filmmakers should draw from their own experiences, but for Allen doing so means dragging us through his sordid romances of yore.
And a middling Allen effort like “Whatever Works” doesn’t need those kinds of distractions.
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When is a smart, sophisticated summer movie brimming with history and gravitas a letdown?
When it stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale and the man behind the camera is Michael Mann.
“Public Enemies” should satiate mature minded movie goers looking for salvation against the tide of mindless blockbusters. It’s a beautifully constructed film, one with seemingly every element locked in for a modern movie classic.
But while Mann (”Heat,” “Collateral”) remains a technical maestro, he still has trouble getting under the skin of his characters.
Who else could film the life story of boxing great Muhammad Ali and leave viewers unsure of what really made Ali tick by the film’s end?
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Think getting an independent film greenlit - and shot - and distributed - sounds hard?
Just leaf through the pages of Reed Martin’s new book, “The Reel Truth,” and you’ll see it’s a minor miracle every time an art-house picture hits the big screen.
Martin, a freelance film reporter and movie marketing professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, delivers the ultimate warning for everyone who ever dreamed of a life in cinema.
The just released book, subtitled, “Everything You Didn’t Know You Need to Know About Making an Independent Film,” gives wannabe filmmakers and movie fans alike a fascinating peek into the indie film world.
And it isn’t pretty.
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The cable channel TCM is remembering Oscar-winner Karl Malden, who passed away today at the age of 97, in the most fitting way possible.
The channel scrapped its existing July 10 prime-time programming to feature a film tribute to the late actor.
The night begins at 8 p.m. EST with “On the Waterfront,” continues at 10 p.m. with “A Streetcar Named Desire” and wraps at 12:15 a.m. with “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
Kirk Douglas etched an indelible portrait of the rugged, no-nonsense man in the 1962 drama “Lonely Are the Brave.”
Douglas, whose mug alone made him one of Hollywood’s most masculine leading men, plays a cowboy born a half century too late in the move that only now is heading to DVD (July 7).
The film opens with Douglas on horseback trying to navigate a busy New Mexico highway. It’s the perfect setup for what’s to come.
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The first 20 minutes of the micro-indie film “The Graduates” feels like the first draft of an “American Pie”-style sex comedy - the draft before the bawdy jokes and appealing characters took shape.
Be patient.
“The Graduates” slowly shakes free from its clumsy opening to tell a wry tale reminding us there’s more than one way to recall that tumultuous time in our early 20s.
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‘Go’ gets rare indie push
June 30, 2009
The folks behind “Away We Go” think they have another “Juno” on their hands.
“Away,” which stars Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski as soon-to-be parents, is getting the kind of media push too few indie films receive. Suddenly, TV spots for the film are cropping up all over, and the movie ads in the local paper just keep getting bigger - and more packed with critical raves.
Repeating the “Juno” success story won’t be that easy, even if the extra advertising nudged “Away” into the top 10 over the weekend.
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