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01/16/07
Zen Noir (2006)
29 %
Reviews Counted: 14 Fresh: 4 Rotten:10 Average Rating: 3.4/10
Synopsis: When a detective delves into an investigation in a Buddhist temple he unearths some strange and surreal events. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Duane Sharp, Kim Chan, Ezra Buzzington
Director: Marc Rosenbush
Reviews
1 - 16 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
...An irritating exercise in ham acting, metaphysical patter routines, and rim-shot-style comic editing.
12/01/06
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11/11/06
It plays like a short film extended to the length of a feature ... and assembled by someone who appears to have seen a bunch of David Lynch movies and not quite understood them.
11/09/06
Like its hero, Zen Noir doesn’t exist for even a second outside the vocabulary of the film world.
10/30/06
Even at 71 minutes, this shoestring-budget production seems overlong and undernourished.
10/27/06
Writer/director Marc Rosenbush's first film, from the false toughness of its surface to its soft, pulpy heart, will please neither aficionados of the detective genre nor devotees of Eastern religion.
10/26/06
The acting is stylized, the sets are stylized, the editing is stylized, all toward a Zen-like minimalist aesthetic.
10/16/06
Rosenbush's cinematic experiment generates so little excitement I doubt whether you'll hear even the sound of one hand clapping.
09/29/06
Any hopes that Marc Rosenbush’s film might transcend its unimaginative title are dashed almost immediately, as manic fade-outs, fade-ins and overlays of portentous symbols give way to mannered dialogue and bad jokes.
09/22/06
Any one of a thousand can spoof noir. One in a thousand can spoof it well.
09/22/06
...indulges in a lot of jumpcuts and flashy montages that quickly prove more irritating than expressive. Even at 65 minutes (plus credits), this one feels too long.
09/22/06
A provocative, witty -- and admittedly esoteric -- experimental comedy that is serious, amusing and satisfying.
09/21/06
Top Critic
A fascinating, if somewhat pretentious little film that's not exactly the cut and dried crime drama that The Detective might have expected.
09/16/06
1 - 16 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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