How terrible an act will someone commit if they know that their happiness lies on the other side of the deed? How does someone handle the guilt of knowing their actions hurt others? These are questions that come out of Woody Allen’s new movie, ‘Cassandra’s Dream.’ Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor star as Terry and …
In the past, Danny Boyle’s handling of different stories and genres has been impressive. From the heroin-chic ‘Trainspotting,’ to the zombie (although they’re not technically zombies,) thriller ’28 Days Later,’ to his so-called kids movie, ‘Millions,’ Boyle does what the story requires. And in his newest movie, and re-teaming with ’28 Days’ writer Alex Garland, …
‘Ladies and gentlemen… if I say I’m an oil man you will agree. You have a great chance here, but bear in mind, you can lose it all if you’re not careful.’ And thus begins Paul Thomas Anderson’s character study, more familiarly known as ‘There Will Be Blood.’ The character is Daniel Plainview, an oilman, …
Shot in 2005, scheduled for release in 2006, finally released in 2007, ‘Lucky You,’ had a rough path to travel before making it before audiences. Ultimately it opened the same weekend as ‘Spiderman 3,’ and, well, only one of these two movies set box-office records. Eric Bana stars as Huck Cheever, a down-and-out poker player, …
Why Nicole Kidman starring in The Invasion trumps marrying Tom Cruise as her worst decision. The Invasion just came out on DVD. I know this because the local Best Buy is using the DVD to prop up one side of a wobbly table (And that is probably giving the movie too much respect). Outside of …
I love animation. Few other genres cause their viewers to immediately suspend their disbelief for the duration of the film. While it could be argued that part of the challenge for filmmakers is to create a story that lends itself to this suspension, I think animation’s ability to instantly trigger it offers filmmakers more liberty …
A retired, expert marksman is set-up and blamed for the assassination of a bishop and the attempted assassination of the President. Working with a recently fired and disgraced FBI agent, the marksman finds that his set-up goes high up into the halls of power. That is the plot of Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Shooter.’ If it also …
Bob Dylan once said that ‘to live outside the law, you must be honest.’ And so it is with David Cronenberg’s most recent movie, ‘Eastern Promises.’ The film stars Naomi Watts as Anna a nurse in the maternity ward in London’s hospitals. When a 14 year-old Russian heroin addict turns up and give birth to …
Few things seem gray anymore. Perception has grown black and white. There is good and evil, Republican and Democrat, tasteful and tasteless, comedy and drama, etc. Middle ground, ambiguity seem unsettling, out of place. As time passes and our brains need to neatly file information into definitive compartments, we sum up our feelings of a …
Here’s the plot of ‘1408,’ real simple and real short. Ghost hunter doesn’t believe in ghosts. He checks into a haunted hotel room in New York and the ghosts try to change his mind. His mind is changed. Fade to black. End of movie. ‘1408’ keeps to that schedule so closely, you could set your …