Yale Daily News

Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 4:05 p.m.

Search Within Film

Why so “Serious Man”?

Larry Gopnik’s life is, like, really stressful right now. His wife is leaving him for a real jerk; he’s up for tenure and probably isn’t going to get it; his stoner, troublemaking son is about to be bar mitzvah; his indignantly superficial daughter wants a nose job; his brother keeps getting arrested and has nowhere to live; he’s having money problems.

“ANTICHRIST” FAILS TO POSSESS

Death is interesting. Grief is interesting. Religion is interesting. Sex is interesting. And yet, “Antichrist” somehow manages not to be interesting, despite attempting to tackle all of these things.

“Paranormal Activity” at the box office

With box office figures supporting gorier and more visually terrifying pictures, fans of the classic suspense horror genre are presently left wanting.

New York, I love you but you’re bringin’ me down

 

Declare love to your metropolis, one short at a time. Of course Paris was first, with “Paris Je t’aime.” Next stop — New York, but with fewer directors and even less love.

“An Education” in dating disasters

 

Although 16-year-olds probably shouldn’t date men twice their age, it does make for a great film.

Coco ain’t pretty “before Chanel”

 

The name Coco Chanel is synonymous with understated glamour and elegance in today’s fashion world. Gabrielle Bonheur, however, is a name few recognize.

Jonze Goes “Wild”

 

Spike Jonze has found the elixir of eternal youth. And no, it’s not botox, nor does it require drinking from a spring.

“Paris” still a cliche, still irresistible

 

I have known many quality French people in my life. But if I had to choose a favorite, it would be my Aunty M.

“Couples” needs more therapy

 

It’s the recession, and to celebrate, all of your favorite actors and actresses are looking for work.

Cinephiles lost and found

Although the screens of Cinema at the Whitney go dark this semester, other film societies on campus are ready for their close-ups.

Postpartum rebellion

Roller derby? In 2009? Ya, Drew Barrymore went there. A bold move for the actress venturing into the world of directing. “Whip It” is a girl-power-laced action, drama, comedy, underdog-sports film all at once – with as much underlying identity crisis as the teens it portrays.

Michael Moore hates capitalism

If Michael Moore’s new documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” were a love song it would be the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love?”

Brief interview with very happy man

“What does the modern woman really want?” Claims have been proffered by everyone from Plato to the editors of Playboy, but as of yet the question remains unanswered.

LVE 4 EVR?!?

Every time I watch “Space Jam,” I make plans to drop out of school to become a basketball star. The euphoria of MJ’s triumph over those pesky green aliens convinces me anything’s possible and anyone can make it big — the same goes for “School of Rock,” “Save the Last Dance,” “Remember the Titans” and countless other preadolescent films. I expected that same feeling of...

Where the wild things go to die

Tucker Max loves being an “asshole,” and he wants everybody to know it. The University of Chicago and Duke Law graduate started off with a blog in 2002, went on to write a book in 2006 that made the New York Times bestseller list, and now he gives us “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” — a film which attempts to capture the insane hilarity of the book, the blog, the...

Lies, lies and videotape

There’s a line that Mark Whitacre likes to share with almost everyone he meets. “I caught a lucky break,” he says to his shrink, his lawyer and eventually the FBI. After his parents died in an automobile accident when he was six, a rich amusement-park owner in Ohio adopted him, and so his story begins. But Whitacre, an excitable, sausage-fingered executive at A.D.M, a...

Everybody eats some ‘Body’

J.J. Abrams has admitted that the idea for “Alias” (the best show in the history of television) came late one night in the writers’ room of his first show, “Felicity,” when the staff jokingly imagined what would happen if its awkward, painfully self-aware protagonist was transported from her melodramatic college existence into the life of a kick-ass spy. The results were...

John Keats, you’re a ‘Star!’

If the bare act of sex were enough for us, we wouldn’t complicate it with our imaginings, with poetry, with movies. Like John Keats’ poetry, “Bright Star” — the new biopic about the Romantic poet — is animated by the creative energy that arises from not getting any.

Women with ‘Issues’

The first 15 minutes of “The September Issue” trip along self-promotingly, an ode composed in Her glory. Who, her? Anna Wintour, you simpleton — editor-in-chief of Vogue. In a meeting with Wintour, elusive Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld presents a tweed suit, muttering in his befuddling Euro accent, “This one we call Anna.” Um, scusi? If fashion were the Old Testament,...

Sticking it to yourself

What happens when you ARE the Man? This week, two films take on the American male — and his midlife power crisis. Lee gives you the deets on “Extract” and “World’s Greatest Dad.”