Author Archives: crimsonkay

About crimsonkay

A long time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Dan Akira Nishimura was born in Los Angeles where as a child, he saw the road show productions of Ben Hur, Spartacus and El Cid, thus launching his film viewing career. He is an essayist and correspondent for Noir City, the online magazine of the Film Noir Foundation.In that capacity, he'll be part of the media pool at Hollywood's Turner Classic Film Festival in April of this year."

Begin Again a Non-Starter

Posted on by
Reply

San Francisco International Film Festival 2014

Begin-AgainJohn Carne’s Once (2006) had everything going for it including newcomers Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová who won our hearts and the Academy Award for best song. Begin Again (2013) finds Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley in a similar making-it-in-music story, not a remake but a variation on a theme. Even the publicity poster looks similar. With professional actors and a bigger budget, why doesn’t it work this time? Unfortunately, the film lacks Once‘s feeling of discovering characters we’d never met before. Not surprisingly, it also fails to repeat Hansard and Inglová’s chemistry. Begin Again is a slight, if occasionally entertaining movie. Continue reading →