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Remakes (or in this case, second remakes) are handicapped from the get-go.  Playtime compatriot Daniel Swensen has already outlined the pitfalls of modern updates, and the new Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 falls in line on its tracks like the titular subway train. One can see the infinitely tense possibilities of the skeletal scenario of Morton Freedgood’s (alias John Godey’s) 1973 novel on which each movie has been based: four men hijack a NYC subway car and hold its passengers hostage; the head criminal has found a way to …

The most important tool a writer has in his arsenal is the pen. Again, “pen” is a metaphor. A writer may like pens, but she may be more productive at a keyboard, or with a No. 2 pencil. These are serviceable implements, but there are writing utensils that have the power to alter the course of history; to speak directly from the primal, viscous soup of human consciousness. Creativity begins in the mind, but it finds its expression in the metaphorical, mighty sword of the writer. To wit, here are the most essential writing implements ever wielded by the human hand.

The audience is made up of equal parts leather-clad true believers, college-age hipsters, and, like me, cinematic onlookers hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime multimedia experience.  I’d never heard of the Canadian hard rockers Anvil, but since the unveiling of the sweetly-titled documentary, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, at Sundance in 2008, buzz had been mounting.  I frequently check this particular theater’s online listings, never knowing when a special event may appear, and tonight I’ve hit the jackpot:  Anvil itself is going to be at this midnight showing, thrashing through what could …

Playtime and Star Trek
This month is sci-fi month at Playtime in honor of the release of J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the Star Trek franchise. Playtime staff and collaborators sat down to have a chat on their favorite and formative Trek memories, as well as their reaction to the latest film.
What was your first Star Trek series, and who/what introduced you to it?
David Jordan: TOS.  My dad has been a fan of ST since the show originally aired and as such I was exposed to it at a very young …

The recent, Cannes-approved biographical documentary (hereafter known as a “biodoc”) Tyson features an insightful interview between the eponymous former heavyweight boxing champion and director James Toback.    The biodoc strain of documentary filmmaking tends to present a panoramic, historically-situated view of an individual, the better either to understand those we deem to be “larger-than-life” or to use particular circumstances to illuminate the universal condition.  Treatments can be admiring of subjects, such as in The Times of Harvey Milk, or damning, as in Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, …

"ONE lover, ah ah ah…"
From its somnambulistic opening, a slow-mo Joaquin Phoenix shedding his dry cleaning delivery along a pier and calmly plunging into Sheepshead Bay, his mind’s eye imagining a woman forlornly leaving a home, Two Lovers establishes its pervasive tone as that of fatalistic, romantic depression.  Phoenix is Leonard Kraditor, a young Brighton Beach man with emotional problems whose previous suicide attempt forced him to live in his parents’ apartment and to work for their dry cleaning business.  In quick succession, two love interests enter his life: Sandra …