Chess has never been more compelling cinematically than in PAWN SACRIFICE. Whether you know nothing about the game, or you are a grand master, the story of Bobby Fischer’s rise to the world championship, and the toll it took on his already fragile psyche, has all the suspense and intrigue of an espionage thriller. That… Read More »
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
Life is frustrating, exhilarating, confusing, astounding and unpredictable. So is LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS, a film with high aspirations and a slightly muddled follow-through. Based on Jamie Reidy’s book “Hard Sell: The Evolution of A Viagra Saleman” and set against the world of medicine as a business, it makes a piquant juxtaposition of Viagra and true… Read More »
THE LAST SAMURAI
In THE LAST SAMURAI, we have a puffed up popcorn flick that is not without a certain kitschy charm. It is a throwback to those glorious action-adventure films that Hollywood churned out with astonishing regularity during its golden age with little regard for the limitations of reality. It was all flash, glamour and really pearly… Read More »
BLOOD DIAMOND
BLOOD DIAMOND wants to be so many things, including an action film, an adventure epic, a love story, and an indictment of what soulless exploitation has done to Sierra Leone. It takes 2 ½ hours or so, but still doesn’t have the emotional tug that it should by the time the final credits roll. Set… Read More »