So maybe you have a film franchise that is running out of steam. Maybe one of the stars wants out. Maybe his character was killed off to accommodate that. Maybe an actress has an idea for reviving that franchise with some panache and a dash of ovarian power. You can’t help thinking that one of… Read More »
NOW YOU SEE ME 2
The best caper films keep us guessing even while we’re watching the caper in progress. In that way, NOW YOU SEE ME 2 succeeds admirably. The return of the The Horsemen, a band of underground magicians dedicated to truth, justice, and outsmarting everyone around them, including each other, provides several set pieces that are fine… Read More »
OPPORTUNISTS, THE
Here we have a bittersweet little character study masquerading as a caper flick. There are, as you would expect, a few plot twists, none terribly surprising, but handled with a surprising, unaffected charm considering the downbeat nature of the story. Our hero is one Victor Kelly, played by an astonishingly low key Christopher Walken. Hes… Read More »
PARKER
Patton Oswalt once opined that Jason Statham can make any movie better. He is not wrong. For those who have succumbed to Mr. Stathams particular appeal as a cool and deadly action hero, his charisma is an umbrella over the rougher patches of all but the most cretinous scripts. In PARKER, he has found a… Read More »
CRIMINAL
Greed makes the world go around, at least it does in the seedy world of CRIMINAL. This re-make of the Argentinian film, NINE QUEENS, has been re-imagined by writer/director Gregory Jacobs as a quirky daylight noir with a plot that spins on a dime as its twists and turns on its way to proving that it’s… Read More »
Dennis Farina Embraces BIG TROUBLE
Dennis Farina is a class act. He also has a wicked sense of humor, which explains why he is does comedy so well. Before becoming an actor, he served for many years on the Chicago police force, a background that can’t help but keep the glitter of Tinseltown in perspective. I spoke with Farina on his birthday, February 29, 2002. The conversation ranged… Read More »
John C Reilly is No CRIMINAL
John C Reilly has made a career out of playing the everyman, both the good and the bad. With his cherubic face and burly build, he can be cuddly, forlorn, or menacing with equal aplomb, a talent he displays as a con man in CRIMINAL. When we talked on August 25, 2004, it was obvious that he… Read More »