Woohoo! New content!

I've been about half a dozen kinds of swamped lately, so I haven't been able to update the blog with new content. That's one of the reasons I've been re-posting the old Movie Moment columns here- the other being that they're difficult to find unless you explicity sniff around the web for them for a good amount of time. I'm sure most of you are enjoying a trip in the ol' Wayback Machine, but at the same time I'm guessing you're craving something brand-spankin'. And so, submitted for your approval, a freshly-penned review of one of my newly-anointed favorite films of 2008, 2009, or whatever year it belongs to, the Dardenne Brothers' The Silence of Lorna, or if you prefer, Lorna's Silence. Hope you like it.

Sometimes, even the greatest of artists can become the victims of sky-high expectations. Take the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, whose latest film Lorna's Silence, despite almost universally positive reviews, has been given a curiously muted reception. “Ho-hum,” many critics seem to be saying. “Another hardscrabble, socially-conscious bit of cinema vérité from the Dardennes.” That’s a shame, really- sure, it’s interesting to see when talented filmmakers tackle many different genres and styles (it’s why Soderbergh is fun to watch even when he’s spinning his wheels). But with the Dardennes working at such a consistently high level, it’s churlish to complain that they just keep on cranking out another great Dardenne brothers movie every three years or so instead. Truth be told, it sounds a little like bitching that Dickens never wrote a book about giant killer robots- pointless and borderline absurd.

Click here for the full review.