There is a cautionary tale from old Hollywood about ticking off the head of your studio. John Gilbert, a huge star of the silent screen, once punched out the lights of Louis B Mayer. Now, in all honesty, Jack was under a little emotional strain having just been stood up at the altar by Greta… Read More »
IN THE CUT
IN THE CUT is not just a bad film, it is a laughably bad film. This would-be erotic thriller wants to discomfit us by delving into the psychological underpinnings of sex and violence and yet succeeds only in making us feel sorry for the people who tried so hard and came up with bupkis. One… Read More »
LAST CASTLE, THE
I will say this for THE LAST CASTLE, it being such a ho-hum picture it doesnt put us in the uncomfortable position in these uncertain times of dealing with the moral dilemma of enjoying a finely crafted film about American soldiers fighting among themselves. Its surprisingly dull for a film that has so many things… Read More »
13 GOING ON 30
When working with a script that is slight and a premise that is high concept, it is vitally important that the star of the film be able to carry the weight of whats missing on her pretty shoulders in such a way that shortcomings can be overlooked. And so it is fortunate that 13 GOING… Read More »
COLLATERAL
Max (Jamie Foxx) is an easygoing guy who is going places. For now hes driving a cab, but its just temporary until his limo business gets off the ground. Okay, its been twelve years, but there are a lot of details to work out. Tonight, though, he is on a roll. A gorgeous woman (Jada… Read More »
JUST LIKE HEAVEN
JUST LIKE HEAVEN is an irresistible and unpretentious morsel of old-fashioned romance with a dash of weltschmerz and metaphysics tossed in for good measure. It’s not so much boy meets girl, as boy meets ghost, though they don’t let that stand in the way of falling in love in spite of themselves. He is David… Read More »
ZODIAC (2007)
The pedestrian way to film the story of ZODIAC, the San Francisco Bay Area serial killer whose rampage extended from the late 1960s through the 1970s, would be to make a taut action thriller with snazzy directing tricks and gung-ho dialogue. Here was a psychopath who hunted people for sport and through a combination of smarts… Read More »