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adamlichtenstein
Reviews
Scrapple (1998)
10 years down the road
of all the times that i've watched scrapple (some 100) in all kinds of venues (at 3 in the morning on a couch with other bar stragglers, at new york film festivals), nothing compared to seeing it in its hometown at mountain film festival, with a hometown crowd as they whooped and yelped at all the local references, ski town tributes and cameo performances (all of which still has appeal to broader less tuned-in audiences). it was like a screening of rocky horror picture show with the same level of participation and more; singing, line-readings, cat calls, wolf whistles, salutes (to Charlie Fowler and Bill Fandel). ten years down the road -- and still going strong -- scrapple has endured as a classic, and judging from last week's screening, it continues to mark a time, not only in skitown history, but as a way of life still worth celebrating.
Untraceable (2008)
Breathless Thriller
"Untraceable" is a tense, taut thriller that benefits from a texture and complexity rarely found in modern movies. This breathlessly-paced film centers around a cyber-cop (beautifully played by Diane Lane) trying to track down a serial killer who designs internet hits to torture and kill his victims.
Lane's cat tirelessly pursues the movie's mouse, but events take an inevitably complex turn, and the people most close to our hero become involved. Colin Hanks (Tom's son) is superb as Lane's quirky colleague. DP Michos provides lots of high-wire angles & death-defying camera moves. His color palate is exquisitely moody and appropriate.
The film travels familiar territory in a fresh and vital fashion, thanks to taut plotting, gripping and often humorous dialog and complex characterizations.