Jesse Bradford seems like a pretty solid actor, so I’ll spare him any further snark regarding his involvement with Swimfan, easily the most laughable high school-set thriller since Judgment at Nuremberg. Actually, I thought the kid might’ve had a shot at stardom following his appealing performance in Peyton Reed’s Bring It On, but, aside from … Continue reading
Fernando Meirelles is rounding out the cast for his adaptation of Jose Saramago’s acclaimed novel Blindness, and, while the material is extraordinarily weighty for a (partly) studio-financed production, this doesn’t mean the director of The Constant Gardener and City of God is excluded from hiring a couple of good loookin’ youngsters to sell this downbeat … Continue reading
Paul Bettany will play a claymation artist in Daniel Simpson’s Born, a psychological thriller in which the animator’s creations take on a life of their own. You don’t even need to throw in Jennifer Connelly or the Chiodo Brothers or Guillermo Del Toro and Clive Barker as producers (along with Lloyd Levin and Lawrence Gordon) … Continue reading
Pete Doctor did such a splendid job guiding Monsters Inc. to the screen that I’m going to pretend his next directorial effort, Up, doesn’t sound like a joke project. I mean, what are we supposed to do with a premise that has a seventy-year-old joining forces with a "wilderness ranger" to fight "beasts and villains"? … Continue reading
I have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and Ned Beatty will not have it. Escape As Game 2 of the least competitive NBA Finals since 2002 lumbered its way to tip-off at 6 PM PST, I was anxiously aware that television history was being made on HBO’s East Coast feed. But, being a … Continue reading
Tom Wolfe’s inside-mocking-without brand of satire was never more pungently amusing than with The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which was published forty-years ago. I haven’t read the book since high school, and can’t imagine how any of it will speak to our intensely connected age; all due respect to Ken Kesey, but to drop out … Continue reading
Preamble I am easily distracted. Some might say I have ADD. I’d like to hurt these people. And I will. One day, I’ll make the whole world pay. Why No Ocean’s Thirteen Review? What’s there to say? It’s essentially review-proof: more so than the other two, Soderberg has designed this film to evaporate from your … Continue reading
What’s your favorite Steve Miner movie? Is it Friday the 13th Part II or Part III? House or Warlock? Lake Placid or Texas Rangers? All joking aside (my apologies if you’re actually pondering the above query), Miner did direct one minor classic: the first season Christmas episode of The Wonder Years in which Jason Hervey … Continue reading
Just when you think Martin Campbell is ready to make the leap to A-list director status, he takes a pure for-hire gig that reminds you he’s just a high operating hack. In a way, you’ve got to respect that. What if Martin Brest would’ve limited himself to character-driven comedies like Going in Style or Midnight … Continue reading