All credit to director Sarah Gavron and company for taking on the task of adapting “Brick Lane”, Monica Ali’s finely realized novel to the big screen. They’ve made bold cuts, condensing the story, but not the emotions, and distilling from it the essence of a woman’s journey from darkness to light. The darkness is the overwhelming… Read More »
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
Naturally it all begins with a secret government experiment gone horribly wrong. Or right, depending on your point of view. In a secret government facility conveniently located in the middle of field and under a rock, the military developed Item 9. Weed so strong that it was not only declared illegal, the facility was ordered… Read More »
I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále )
Jiri Menzel’s I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND is a delightful genre best described as romp played as tragedy. Or tragedy played as a romp. That’s the key to why it this tale of hope, ambition, and the unexpected importance of postage stamps in uncertain times is such a bitingly effective exercise in satire. The… Read More »
DEATH RACE
DEATH RACE takes the stock characters of the more pedestrian action flicks and folds them nicely into a story that is interesting for more than the number of cars and people that go crunch before bursting into flames. Based on the kitsch classic by Roger Corman from the 1970s, it has been adapted by Paul… Read More »
BABYLON A.D.
Overbudget and behind schedule, BABYLON A.D. crept into theaters without a press screening. This never bodes well and this would-be epic lives up, or down, to that boding. Vin Diesel stars as Toorop, a mercenary in the Russia of the not-too distant future. Not your typical mercenary, though. Sure, he’s tough, sure he’s intimidating, sure… Read More »
BANGKOK DANGEROUS
In 1999, The Pang Brothers made film called BANGKOK DANGEROUS. People liked it. It added luster to the Brothers’ reputation. They moved on to make other action flicks in Asia with great success and other kinds of flicks in America with less success. At some point the Brothers looked at one another, and this is… Read More »
RIGHTEOUS KILL
The best performance in RIGHTEOUS KILL is not given by either of its storied leads, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. It’s not given by the solid supporting cast of Donnie Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, Carla Gugino, and Brian Dennehey, who all add a raffish interest while still seeming to pull their punches in an attempt… Read More »
DEEP BLUE SEA
THE DEEP BLUE SEA is Renny Harlins latest attempt to revive a career that withered and should have died a long, long time ago. Harlin, perpetrated, I mean, directed CUTTHROAT ISLAND, which ended his marriage to Geena Davis, but oddly enough, it did not stop studios from giving him big bucks to repeat his mistakes. His latest… Read More »
EAGLE EYE
EAGLE EYE exploits paranoia about the invasion of personal privacy by technology with an entertaining action fantasy that pushes all the right buttons. It’s not when the hero, Jerry Shaw (Shia LeBeouf) is presented with his driver’s license, past-due bills, or even video of himself outplaying his pals at poker in the back room of the… Read More »
NIGHTS IN RODANTHE
NIGHTS IN RODANTHE is perfectly calibrated to jerk tears with the precision of the atomic clock at the U.S. Naval Observatory, and with the irresistible insistence of an industrial grade milking machine. It is the quintessential romance novel come to life, beautifully acted and even more beautifully photographed, with leads, Diane Lane and Richard Gere,… Read More »
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