"[Ridley] Scott is a decorator, a borrower, and a synthesist; like a great machine he contains all striking images and can deliver and fuse them, so long as the product is impersonal." That’s from David Thomson’s dismissive entry on the master in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, and this bullshit attitude reminds us why … Continue reading
Honestly, if you don’t know about this film or have an opinion on Wes Anderson films, this contest is of little value to you. If you haven’t seen a previous flick, you’re probably not a real reader of this site. But, benefit of the doubt and all that… You want to see it. Bottom line. … Continue reading
Emile Hirch interviewSean Penn/Eddie Vedder interview Judging from the interviews above and the secondhand info from folks who have seen the film, Into the Wild is one not to be missed. Sean Penn is 3 for 3 as a director thus far in my mind, having made challenging and somewhat unorthodox films [The Pledge and … Continue reading
I must be missing something vital here, since I thought that Slamdance was the hip, edgy alternative festival to Sundance. If that’s the case, how did a script about a group of attractive young people brought to the desert to ostensibly make a reality TV show but really get killed off in a snuff film … Continue reading
When I was on the set of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Guillermo del Toro whipped out his laptop and showed me some footage from the Troll Market set. In the background of one scene was a couple of guys in green body suits walking formation. ‘That,’ Guillermo said. ‘Is going to be a Lovecraftian … Continue reading
Remember when Vin Diesel had ambitions? He wasn’t going to make any more movies like The Fast And the Furious. No, it was all interesting stuff for him. He was going to make smart movies. He had a company to make smart video games. He was going to walk down the street every day and … Continue reading
Contrary to the juvenile suggestiveness of the headline, there will be no incestuous ménage à trois in Jim Sheridan’s redo of Susanne Bier’s Brothers – which, given the impossible hotness of the three leads (Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and the just announced Natalie Portman), will surely be a great source of sorrow for our many … Continue reading
No poster could ever effectively convey the fury and madness of Brian De Palma’s Iraq War indictment, Redacted, but there’s something kind of… imprecise about this key art. I like the idea of blotted out information revealing the face of a panic-stricken child, but the way it’s framed by the barricade recalls a number of … Continue reading
And it’s October. Another month and another column full of shit that I love. To offset all the shit that I hate on a daily basis. You need some balance in life, baby, and that’s what this column is all about. The months seem shorter and shorter all the time – I can’t believe that … Continue reading
Last week, in overly excited response to the rumor that the gi-normous government warehouse from Raiders of the Lost Ark had been recreated on the Downey Studios lot, I made the following offer: "While there’s no way in hell you’ll be able to get past the throng of security guarding this set to snap a … Continue reading