Still Life in Rodanthe (Weekly Links)

Movies reviewed for the Herald this week.

Eagle Eye.

The Duchess.

Nights in Rodanthe.

The Lucky Ones.

Choke.

Still Life.

XXY.

The Corporal’s Diary.

On KUOW this week, Dave Beck and I talk about The Duchess and Nights in Rodanthe; listen here.

On the Seattle Channel, I talk with Nancy Guppy about the new SIFF Cinema repertory calendar: here.

Movie Diary 9/15/2008

The Duchess (Saul Dibb, 2008). (full review 9/26)

Sex Drive (Sean Anders, 2008). (full review 10/17)

Press screenings sometimes–frequently–make strange bedfellows of movies. Today’s films were no exception, and when faced with two such as these it is possible to daydream about what might happen if Keira Knightley’s duchess went on a road trip to Knoxville in a ’69 Pontiac, and how Seth Green’s deadpan Amish prankster could have leavened the plight of British royalty in the 18th century.

I am struck by Burn After Reading taking the #1 spot over the weekend–the Coen brothers finally land a big opening weekend, and deliver a movie that repeatedly and sometimes cruelly slaps down audience expectations. That’s not a knock; I’m just amazed they got away with it.