Of all the seismic jolts to ripple through the foundation of American filmmaking in the 1970s, none left the landscape more ecstatically transformed than Harvey Keitel falling back onto his pillow as the syncopated drum intro of "Be My Baby" kicked up up on the soundtrack. This is the beginning of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. … Continue reading
The very idea of an Escape from New York remake is anything but good news, but since it is going to happen, the least we can hope for is that it either receives an imaginative overhaul (not bloody likely with Ken Nolan’s ho-hum draft) or bombs quietly like Rupert Wainwright’s The Fog. The latter suddenly … Continue reading
Let’s see… we have one successful (but not overwhelmingly so) franchise in Christopher Nolan’s Batman, a stalled franchise in Superman, a miscarried Wonder Woman, an alternate universe Justice League of America speeding toward production with George Miller at the helm, a JLA spin-off of The Flash (with the newly-attached David Dobkin directing), and, now, television … Continue reading
Moviehole is reporting with great brio that George Miller’s Justice League of America has lassoed its Wonder Woman. And, as you can see, it’s not Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Blondie-to-your-right’s name is Teresa Palmer. If she looks familiar, that’s because you probably saw her in December Boys or The Grudge 2. I skipped both, so I … Continue reading
James L. Brooks didn’t invent the dramedy with Terms of Endearment, but it’s hard to imagine the seriocomic, quirk-laden likes of Steel Magnolias, Parenthood, Home for the Holidays, The Family Stone and, now, Dan in Real Life existing without it. These are films that aim for laughter through the tears. They want to broadly, but … Continue reading
How did Underworld ever get popular enough to justify a non-direct-to-DVD prequel helmed by Patrick Tatopoulos, the guy who designed the worst-looking Godzilla of all time? And why are great actors like Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen sullying their filmographies with this crap while the franchise’s creator, Len Wiseman, has moved on to Gears of … Continue reading
At this point in his career, John Travolta is much more effective as a villain than as a bland everyman (or a woman under thirty pounds of latex). For whatever reason, he seems to have lost the ability to portray a normal human being. The last time I bought him in a conventional dramatic role … Continue reading
The problem here is twofold: Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code made $758 million worldwide, and the book’s author, Dan Brown, wrote a prequel. There was no avoiding Angels & Demons. And with a strike looming, Sony had no choice but to speed this unwanted film into production, even though it might break what remains … Continue reading
Four months ago, it looked as though Don Winslow’s aging hitman saga, The Winter of Frankie Machine, was going to be the (potentially) perfect coda to the Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro mobster trio of Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino. Alas, it didn’t work out. But, in a semi-inversion of what went down with The Aviator, … Continue reading
As someone who got hooked on the lurid subject of serial killers back in high school (thanks, Thomas Harris!), I’m all for Hollywood A-listers delving into the phenomenon – i.e. provided they have a fresh take. And even if they don’t, I’ll still waste a couple of hours somewhere down the line watching any piece … Continue reading