There are a few flaws in Tony Scott’s reworking of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, but the giddy exuberance of this character-driven thriller gets the audience over the rough spots with few regrets. The story has added cell phones and the internet to the mix without tarting up the proceedings with gratuitous special effects. It’s basically… Read More »
SHUTTER ISLAND
It’s no great trick to work out the twist in SHUTTER ISLAND, nor is having done so any great hindrance to enjoying this latest collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. In fact, the clues judiciously scattered throughout the film all but demand that the audience figure out that one small piece of the puzzle… Read More »
GHOST WRITER, THE
In THE GHOST WRITER, Roman Polanski takes Robert Harris novel of the same name and gives it his own unique stamp. The tale is the classic one of an innocent man suddenly finding himself in the midst of intrigue and danger not of his making, The ominous overtones are pure Polanski. The innocent, who is… Read More »
MOTHER (MADEO)
After setting a monster loose on Seoul, director Bong Joon-ho has come up with something even more ferocious for his next film, MOTHER, a tale that explores the ferocity of the maternal instinct. Funny, tragic, disquieting, and absurd, it’s also nothing less than terrifying on a primal level. The film begins with the title character… Read More »
THE SQUARE
Click here to listen to the interview with Joel Edgerton (17:21)THE SQUARE is a film noir in the classic mold but with a distinctly contemporary flavor. A good man, the temptation of a younger woman, and an indistinct dream of a happily ever after far from the monotony of a cushy, if bland, married life.… Read More »
THE AMERICAN
George Clooneys charisma and powerful screen presence have never been more integral to a film, nor used in a more futile effort, than in THE AMERICAN, a virtually silent opus that trades on Clooneys unassailable ability to seduce the camera. Based on Martin Booths novel, A Very Private Gentleman, it is less a action thriller… Read More »
THE EVENT
If the NBC series THE EVENT is as good as the NBC pilot for THE EVENT is, we are in for another infuriatingly, invigoratingly, tantalizingly wonderful national cult obsession. While no one walks into a jet intake, a la Lost, which is one its spiritual, if not literal, influences, there are secret bases and unexplained… Read More »
TOURIST, THE
THE TOURIST is a leisurely thriller, more interesting than heart-stopping, with an unfortunate tendency to stall. Designed to showcase the good looks and star quality of its Venice locations, and of its stars, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, it is a picture postcard of a flick. At its center is a bait-and-switch caper devised by… Read More »
SANCTUM
James Cameron neither wrote nor directed SANCTUM, but his fingerprints as the executive producer of same are all over it. Visually, it’s an exhilarating experience. As for the storytelling, the word lugubrious comes to mind. The writing is stiff and ridden with clichés, with cheese-ish motifs overwhelmed by swelling, overwrought music cues that forge straight… Read More »
UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN is a diverting entertainment, well-plotted with a story that is just convoluted enough to keep the action barreling along with a nice selection of twists, some of which have a tantalizing foreshadowing that adds texture without spilling too many beans. Taking its cue from the best sort of Hitchcockian premise, the innocent man plunked… Read More »
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