Sundance Channel

GREENBERG

Perrin Drumm — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:57:57 +0000

Is there anything more pathetic than a middle-aged man who lists among his most winning attributes a record deal his college band almost had, the ability to make a killer mix CD and wearying psuedo-wit and cynicism about the modern world? A cynicism so far-reatching, I might add, that almost nothing escapes its scope, not even the ailing family dog and definitely nothing post-1979 which includes all music, all technologies and all people who came into being after this year. The aforementioned 'almost nothing' means GREENBERG, of course, the only person to escape his critical eye.

Noah Baumbach and Ben Stiller do a whole lot with “doing nothing” in GREENBERG – in theaters March 26

Sundance Channel — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:20:49 +0000

In GREENBERG, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter/director Noah Baumbach (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE) brings us the funny, touching and poignant story of two souls adrift in Los Angeles, trying to forge a connection.

That fox is foxy!

Annie and Lisa — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:14:59 +0000

THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX is Wes Anderson’s best movie since BOTTLE ROCKET. (Read Perrin Drumm's previous coverage of this film.) And boy is that fox foxy. Scoring George Clooney and Meryl Streep was truly a coup, as their interactions subtly and richly mine the dynamics of marriage, life expectations, and negotiating “bad” behavior in a relationship. How did Wes arrive at this place? My response to most of his films has been that they certainly are fun to look at, but waaaaaaay less satisfying story-wise, a cotton-candy sugary disappearance from the consciousness almost instantly after viewing. (My husband always says, “He should have been a graphic designer.” Ouch.) The magic bullet here, the big difference, seems to be Noah Baumbach, co-writer, who is clearly bringing additional nuance to the table.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Perrin Drumm — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:28:04 +0000

Finally, a film that lives up to the hype. Not only is FANTASTIC MR. FOX thrilling to simply look at, I think even hard-core Roald Dahl fans will appreciate the liberties Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach (SQUID AND THE WHALE, MARGOT AT THE WEDDING) took with the story. While it's not clear what they invented and what they took from Dahl's original notes, the events in the book occupy the middle of the film with added backstory in the beginning and a more involved and complete ending.