Back in 1988, Tom Hanks was mainly known for silly lowbrow comedies like “Bachelor Party” and “Dragnet.” His first starring role was in 1984’s “Splash,” director Ron Howard’s mermaid-out-of-water tale. It was a successful crossover into mainstream comedy. But that movie’s success hadn’t really been attributed to him. Then came “Big.” Penny Marshall directed Hanks […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
“Don’t let your memories kill you.” “They won’t kill me.” But this ridiculously inconsistent revenge flick may. Although it is masquerading as a trashy ‘80s Schwarzenegger action flick, “The Punisher” is actually the newest Marvel comic book character brought to Hollywood’s big screen. “The Punisher” is like Mel Gibson’s “Payback,” but not nearly as much […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
My friend Megan tells me that the rated-R teen formula comedy I saw tonight, “The Girl Next Door,” is being billed in TV ads as the movie for “the next generation.” Apparently, that could be more clearly defined as “the generation that grew up with porn in mainstream culture.” When I was in junior high, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
“I want to welcome you all to tonight’s advance screening of ‘Standing Tall’ with the Rock.” That’s how the Hot Jamz 103 disc jockey introduced the new underdog action caper featuring Dwayne Johnson, known to wrestling fans as the Rock, last Tuesday night at the movie theater. It was an early omen, telling me that […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Ron Perlman is an odd-looking fellow. He’s the guy the with the long face and forceful jaw you might have seen in movies like “City of Lost Children” or “Blade II.” He was the Beast on TV’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Perlman is the kind of character actor who doesn’t ever get the chance to […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
O Brother, what do we have here? “The Ladykillers” is the latest broad comedy from quirky filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. Following “The Big Lebowski,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, and “Intolerable Cruelty,” it’s also the fourth comedy in a row from the Coens (“The Man Who Wasn’t There” being NOT a comedy) that should […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
You are your memories. They define you. Attraction is something not to be trifled with, a dangerous thing. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is the amazing new collaboration between writer Charlie Kaufman (“Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation”) and director Michel Gondry (“Human Nature”). Jim Carrey, cast way against type, is excellent as Joel, a shy […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Kevin Smith is the writer/director behind controversial films like “Dogma” and “Chasing Amy.” He’s known for rapid-fire, hard-R dialogue in movies like “Clerks,” “Mallrats,” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” He has amassed a loyal fanbase and cult following (me included), who forgive him for his lack of lofty cinematic goals as a director […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
“In America” is a modern underdog story set in a somewhat familiar place at no specific time. Director Jim Sheridan (“My Left Foot,” “In the Name of the Father”) co-wrote the semi-autobiographical screenplay for his newest film with his two daughters Naomi and Kirsten Sheridan. It was the 1980s when Sheridan moved his Irish family […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara has long been thought of as an efficient and cocky architect of war. History has painted him in black and white. In his newest movie “The Fog of War,” accomplished documentarian Errol Morris shows us a lot of gray area. His portrait is of a conflicted man, one still […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Written and directed by Patty Jenkins, “Monster” is a powerful, unflinching movie based on a true story that dares to humanize the woman best known as “America’s first female serial killer.” When one thinks of serial killers, it is impossible not to think of the countless number of movies modeled after “The Silence of the […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is the director whose jarring yet thoughtful “Amores Perros” wowed audiences two years ago. His new movie, “21 Grams,” is his first English language film, and mines similar territory as the last one, albeit far less successfully. It would be giving away too much to start with a plot summary of “21 […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
How many reviews have you read of “Paycheck” that featured some clever quip along the lines of this: “‘Paycheck’ is so bad that star Ben Affleck and director John Woo must have been simply thinking about their paycheck!” Any reviewer worth his salt in soundbites could’ve come up with that one. And they’d be right. […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Siamese twin sisters joined at the hip. A gentle giant. A pint-sized circus ringleader. A witch with a glass eye. And a fearless main character who has seen the method of his own death at a very young age. You’ve just landed in the middle of director Tom Burton’s larger-than-life new film, “Big Fish.” It’s […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Directed by Oscar winner Anthony Minghella (“The English Patient”) and starring Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, Oscar nominee Jude Law, and multiple-Oscar nominee Renee Zellweger, the Oscar-grubbing studio Miramax presents its front-runner for the 2003 Academy Awards. Ladies and gentlemen… “Cold Mountain”! For such a hugely pedigreed film, “Cold Mountain” is largely a disappointing game of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }