Young Adult – 3 1/2 Buckets

The comic antihero is among the most difficult cinematic archetypes to pull off, because it requires that the character be likable precisely because they are unredeemable. In other words, not only must the character be flawed, but the… [Read more]

AFI Fest 2007: Day Four – Feel-Good with a Conscience

My fourth day at AFI Fest 2007 brought a close to the first of the two stints in which I saw films during the festival. (I resumed attending screenings on the following Friday, during the festival’s second weekend.) For the most part, I highly enjoyed the first half of AFI Fest, only having to endure one total stinker (Déficit) during the four days. On the final day of the long festival weekend that I invented for myself (I skipped the one Monday-class that I had in favor of staying for the Centerpiece Gala), I tried to schedule light-hearted crowd-pleasers to relieve myself from some of the heavy-hitters that I had seen in screenings prior. Unfortunately, only one of the three was able to function as a work of more than just pleasant cinematic diversion. [Read more]