THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, 2004’s version of the 1965 film, which was, in turn based on the novel starts with a bang. It ends with another, even better one, but, alas, sags in the middle with too much exposition and not enough suspense. Though people doing very silly things qualifies as a sort of… Read More »
ELEKTRA
ELEKTRA’s mission as a film was to be better than DAREDEVIL, the benighted Ben Affleck vehicle in which the character of the knife-wielding super-heroine previously appeared. It succeeds, but then again, it’s not like it had a high bar to clear. Fans of Jennifer Garner will not be disappointed with ELEKTRA, which brings back that… Read More »
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
With ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 we learn two important lessons. One, that remakes, in this case of John Carpenter’s 1976 original of the same name, fail, and badly, much more often than they succeed. Two, that Laurence Fishburne has so much raw talent, smooth charisma, and irresistible personal magnetism that he can make even trash like this… Read More »
ALONE IN THE DARK
All you really need to know about ALONE IN THE DARK is that its based on a computer game and that the people who brought it to the screen aimed very low when it came to fleshing out the premise into a storyline. So low, in fact, that only the most die-hard fans of the… Read More »
ONG-BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR
ONG BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR has several things going for it that make it a worthy addition to the martial arts oeuvre. There is the particular style spotlighted, Muay Thai, a variation that involves the use of knees and elbows to drive home the action with an intriuguing kind of violence. Mostly, though, there is… Read More »
SON OF THE MASK
SON OF THE MASK is a slam-bang festival of live-action cartoon hi-jinks and screwball violence, yet it aims right for the heart and against all reason, succeeds. Jaime Kennedy turns in a nicely sensitive and sweet performance as Tim Avery, an animation star who hasnt been discovered yet. In the meantime, he toils at an… Read More »
HOSTAGE
There are two things that viewers of HOSTAGE, the latest film starring and co-starring Bruce Willis, can be grateful for. One, most of it takes place is a spectacular mansion that is visually stunning. Two, we dont have to see Mr. Willis naked again. Theres a tattoo on his person that he displayed in THE… Read More »
SIN CITY
SIN CITY is not for the faint of stomach. It may or may not be for the faint of heart, either, but there is such a solid, irresistible core of romanticism anchoring the interrelated tales that loosely form the narrative, that true believers in true love might be able to get past the part where… Read More »
THE INTERPRETER
My friend Daisy, an enthusiastic but discriminating cinema fan, has a way of summing up her movie-going experiences with a succinct take, and so it was as we exited the preview screening of THE INTERPRETER. It almost seemed, she opined, as though something was on the verge of happening. Alas, director Sydney Pollack’s lugubrious pacing… Read More »
BATMAN BEGINS
Superheroes say much about the culture that spawned them, and so it is with the various incarnations of Batman. In the 60s, he was a pop icon with more than a little camp fluttering around his satin go-go boots. In the 80s and 90s, it was a wallow in excess with sets that duked it… Read More »
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