I had very high expectations for director/screenwriter Andrew Dominik’s new film “Killing Them Softly” (based on the 1974 novel “Cogan’s Trade” by George V. Higgins). Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, James Gandolfini and Richard Jenkins are but some of the few stars that shot my hopes for the picture to a skyscraping level. But in spite of Dominik’s résumé (“The...
It’s no secret that the Wolverine battle cry was muffled seemingly indefinitely when MGM Studios took a financial blow, crippling the “Red Dawn” remake’s theatrical release. The relatively unknown actors (or at least they were at the time) moved on to better things, and thank heavens we got to see Chris Hemsworth in “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “The Cabin...
Alfred Hitchcock was an iconic film director who transcended his own era of cinema, so it seems only right to make a movie about his career in the industry. “Hitchcock,” directed by Saicha Gervasi, is a well-crafted biopic based on Stephen Rebello’s book, “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.” Academy-award winning actor Anthony Hopkins portrays Alfred Hitchcock, as...
It’s not often a historical film can make an old political figure seem vibrant and engaging in a modern sense. Though at times hindered by its pacing, director Steven Spielberg’s most recent film, “Lincoln,” captures the former president in a light that brings an urgent sense of immediacy to the issue of slavery in the 1800s.
The film begins in...
Cheesy? You must be thinking of another movie. Director/screenwriter David O. Russell (“The Fighter,” “Three Kings”) covers all the bases from the opening to the end credits, navigating a script that drips none of the cheese offered by the other romantic-comedies that were released earlier in the year. “Silver Linings Playbook” is adapted from the 2008 novel of the...
“Rise of the Guardians” delivers the magic of the holiday season to nationwide audiences. The latest DreamWorks Animation feature film is based on children’s book series “The Guardians of Childhood,” written by William Joyce who, along with Guillermo Del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), executive produced this adaptation. Director Peter Ramsey (“Monsters vs. Aliens”) brings David Lindsay-Abaire’s (“Robots”) screenplay to life...
In 2009, Fox 2000 Pictures announced that director Ang Lee (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain”) had signed on for the film adaptation of best-selling adventure-drama novel “Life of Pi,” written by Yann Martel. And while I wouldn't say that it's as much of a smashing success as its source material, "Life of Pi" is still a captivating spectacle.
The...
After five years and four movies of disco ball vampirism, lupine six packs and Kristen Stewart’s monotone delivery, “The Twilight Saga” breathes its last in “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” and it’s well overdue. The final installment of Stephenie Meyer’s monster plays out like a primetime episode in the Friday night graveyard slot, as director Bill Condon (“Chicago,” “Dreamgirls”)...
As I stepped into the surprisingly spacious screening room of Downtown Riverside’s Culver Center, I expected “Martha Marcy May Marlene” to be a cookie-cutter psychological thriller. The independent film was released early 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival and only saw a limited release. What I saw instead was a film that is as much about questions of identity...
“Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes, is the latest addition to the James Bond franchise since it began 50 years ago with Sean Connery in “Dr. No” (1963). After earning critical acclaim for his performance in the 2006 series reboot "Casino Royale" (followed by "Quantum of Solace" in 2008), Daniel Craig assumes the role of James Bond for the third...