Oliver Stone’s 9/11 movie was toothless and very different from his usual work. World Trade Center was, putting it mildly, a disappointment. But it may have just been his opening salvo on the new state of the world; it turns out that Stone and Paramount secretly optioned the book Jawbreaker, CIA agent Gary Berntsen’s account … Continue reading
Sofia Coppola could be a character in one of her own movies. She’s very quiet, and every answer here was given in a halting, sometimes mumbling manner. I don’t know if she was tired or uncomfortable, but the style of her films – big, empty spaces where dialogue would be – makes a lot more … Continue reading
Rank Title WeekendGross CumulativeGross Weeks in Release 1 The Grudge 2 $22,000,000 $22,000,000 1 2 The Departed $18,675,000 $56,626,000 2 3 Man of the Year $12,550,000 $12,550,000 1 4 Open Season $11,000,000 $59,154,000 3 5 Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning $7,750,000 $30,457,000 2 6 The Marine $7,000,000 $7,000,000 1 7 The Guardian $5,853,000 $41,119,000 3 … Continue reading
Sofia Coppola’s movies are open and sparse, focusing on the things unsaid and the moments in between the momentous. It’s almost as fascinating to see what effect this sparseness and openness has on the audience; Coppola’s films end up being as much about what the viewer brings to the experience as what’s going on up … Continue reading
Attend the tale of a strange bit of casting news – Tim Burton is looking to have Sacha Baron Cohen play opposite Johnny Depp in his adaptation of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Cohen, soon to be in theaters with Borat, would play Signor Adolfo Pirelli, Todd’s rival in the barber game. The story is about a … Continue reading
Last night I saw Clint Eastwood’s Flags of our Fathers at the Ziegfeld theater in Manhattan with a crowd that included many Marines in uniform. At the end of the credits, when the famous flag raising picture that is the heart of this story came on the screen, one of the men shouted “Hoorah, Marines!” … Continue reading
Every time I get into an elevator I wonder if this will be the time I get trapped inside. I especially wonder this when I am on elevator and have to make number two very badly. Or when I have just bought my lunch and know that the other bastards in the elevator will demand … Continue reading
There are certain actors who are CHUD favorites, and the latest guy to top that list has to be Paddy Considine, a fantastic actor who brings greatness even to films like Cinderella Man. American audiences got a really good look at what the guy can do this year when his crazy-ex-military-guy-becomes-a-Death-Wish -style-killer-but-done-in-an-indie-way film Dead Man’s … Continue reading
Roger Ebert has been out of the criticism game for a couple of months, recovering from serious surgery. In fact I had no idea just how serious – he has written a note to his readers from physical rehab saying he barely even remembers the months of July and August. Yikes. But the good news … Continue reading
It’s been a long time between David Fincher movies, especially since Panic Room felt more like a tossed off side project than a real film. The wait is almost over – Zodiac, Fincher’s take on the real life (and never caught) Zodiac killer – is just a few months away. In fact, the countdown starts … Continue reading