Click here to listen to the interview with Neil Burger (15:34). A man in shirtsleeves sitting in intense concentration on a bare stage. The audience watching in rapt silence. Police lining the aisles ready to act. Thus begins THE ILLUSIONIST, a tale of sleight-of-hand, misdirection, and magic in many senses of the word. The only… Read More »
IDLEWILD
IDELWILD starts with a bang, splashing across the screen with a raucous exuberance full of sass, attitude, and an irreverent visual sense that enhances the edginess to the life the protagonists have chosen. If it weren’t for a love story that plops itself in the middle of it, this would have been a classic. As… Read More »
INVINCIBLE
INVINCIBLE takes the daring step of making this “based on a true story” sports film more about the emotional journey of its hero, Vince Papale, rather than the standard tale of an underdog overcoming enormous odds. It’s that, too, considering that Papale, played by Mark Wahlberg, had the guts, or perhaps the desperation, to answer… Read More »
THE QUIET
The precarious balance of a dysfunctional family is thrown off kilter by a new member in THE QUIET. The unraveling makes for a disturbing drama that is as riveting to watch as it is challenging to contemplate. The new family member is Dot (Camilla Belle), an orphaned deaf-mute teenager who arrives at the home of… Read More »
THE WICKER MAN
There’s no point in trying to pretty this up. T his remake of THE WICKER MAN, rewritten from Anthony Schaffer’s original screenplay by Neil LaBute and directed by him is a complete flop. With little more than the threat of an estrogen-fueled society to render audiences weak with fear, and none of the zeitgeist of an… Read More »
HOLLYWOODLAND
HOLLYWOODLAND deals with the death of George Reeves, television’s Superman and the idol of millions of kids who were devastated by not just his passing, but that it was reported to have been suicide. It was during a party at his house, when he went upstairs and was later found with a bullet through his… Read More »
GRIDIRON GANG
Before seeing GRIDIRON GANG, I would have said that given the right sort of role, one with action, a greater or lesser dash of comedy, and no stretching of a thespian nature, that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a fine screen presence but not much more. I have been proved wrong. There’s humor and a… Read More »
THE BLACK DAHLIA
There are so many missteps in Brian De Palma’s THE BLACK DAHLIA that one hardly knows where to start. Perhaps the best place is with the adaptation of James Ellroy’s novel of the same name. The book is a rich and vibrant work that provides too much fodder for a two-hour film to capture. Instead… Read More »
FLYBOYS
Back in 1966, The Royal Guardsmen scored a hit with a minor novelty classic called “Snoopy and the Red Baron” about the imaginary World War I exploits dreamed up by Charlie Brown’s beagle. I bring this up because in FLYBOYS, one of the American pilots fighting World War I in the Lafayette Escadrille has the… Read More »
ALL THE KING’S MEN
ALL THE KING’S MEN is so swept up in being an important and timely film that it somehow never quite gets around to being either, much less both. It’s the second film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, who took his inspiration and bit more from the life of Louisiana’s flamboyant… Read More »
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- …
- 11
- Next Page »