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(11/09/05 6:00am)
Sometimes a change of pace is not only befitting for an actor or
actress, but necessary to maintain the legitimacy of their career.
For the past decade, Steve Martin has been involved in a plethora
of clunky comedies. 'Shopgirl,' the occasionally charming but
uneven adaptation of his novella, is refreshing even though it does
not really work.
(11/07/05 6:00am)
After perusing the movie news this week, I stumbled upon a
couple of interesting tidbits: Warner Brothers has greenlit a
grossly unnecessary remake to Sam Peckinpah's 'The Wild Bunch;' Bob
Saget is planning to write, produce and direct a spoof of 'March of
the Penguins' entitled 'Farce of the Penguins;' and Rob Schneider
is going to direct his next shitty movie himself. Oh, and Vincent
Gallo is selling his sperm for a million dollars.
(11/04/05 6:00am)
Battle scenes are the bread and butter of a typical war film,
lending gritty authenticity as well as differentiating it from
similar films. Compare and contrast the chaotic jungle combat of
'Platoon' with the thoroughly unsettling Russian roulette sequences
in 'The Deer Hunter' or the sweeping, Wagner-scored helicopter raid
in 'Apocalypse Now' to see how differently Vietnam was interpreted
by three maverick directors.
(11/02/05 6:00am)
By Joe Pudas
(10/31/05 6:00am)
Afilmmaker with completely unrestricted creative freedom is
almost nonexistent. In order to achieve that powerful status, you
need to have created and/or directed a multibillion dollar
franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg skyrocketed to the
upper echelon of the industry not only because their films are
usually gigantic hits, but because the projects they pick are safe.
Whereas Lucas has ridden the 'Star Wars' phenomenon and since 1977,
Spielberg mostly chooses event films headlined by a huge
celebrity.
(10/27/05 6:00am)
The late, great Gene Siskel once described a great film as one
containing 'three great scenes and no bad scenes. ' Solid overall,
containing outstanding scenes to distinguish it above the rest of
the pack.
(10/24/05 6:00am)
Since there are so few authentically brilliant horror films made
due to the genre's inherent disadvantages (easy to do, hard to do
well), we are annually swamped with a deluge of wimpy PG-13 wannabe
chillers and ill-advised remakes. After wading through this crap,
audiences have only embraced a handful of recent horror films and
chances are, if it comes time to watch a Halloween-appropriate
movie, most of you will end up throwing in something familiar but
dependable or just saying the hell with it and seeing 'Saw
II.'
(10/17/05 6:00am)
On Friday, MGM producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
confirmed the rumor that has been circulating around the Internet
for months now: The blond-haired, blue-eyed Daniel Craig will be
the next James Bond.
(10/10/05 6:00am)
Al Pacino is a great actor with an interesting dilemma. His
commanding screen presence is so distinctive and so forceful that
he often gets accused of overacting. Yes, he does hoot and holler
profanely in just about every performance-in fact, I would say he's
got the patent on eruptions of onscreen rage-but his torrents of
anger are usually essential and, damn it, hugely entertaining.
(10/03/05 6:00am)
Why is it that the quality shows on network television are
usually cancelled just as they're hitting their stride? Apparently
witless twaddle like \Will and Grace,"" ""Dharma and Greg"" and
""Ally McBeal"" can fester and stink up the tube for years on end,
yet all-around-wonderful shows like ""Freaks and Geeks and
""Undeclared"" (from ""40-Year-Old Virgin"" director Judd Apatow)
can't even make it through one season.
(09/28/05 6:00am)
The current cinematic climate teems with talented independents
trying to have their voices heard over one another. So naturally,
many of those working outside the establishment try to garner
attention through shocking their way to notoriety.
(09/26/05 6:00am)
I don't think there's a filmmaker working today with a more
easily distinguishable repertoire of movies than Tim Burton. One
could argue this point-I'm sure David Fincher and Wes Anderson
would be popular counterexamples-but I certainly can't think of
another director besides Burton whose distinctive influence can
often be felt before the opening credits.
(09/20/05 6:00am)
A couple of years ago, \An Unfinished Life"" must have seemed
like a sure-fire piece of Oscar bait, complete with an A-list cast
of veterans (Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman), glamour puss
celebrities (Jennifer Lopez, Camryn Manheim), and rising stars
(Damien Lewis, Josh Lucas), and once-esteemed prestige director
Lasse Hallstrom at the helm. It's as soft and sappy as anything
Hallstrom has been involved with, containing symbolism and
parallelism so overt that Gomer Pyle wouldn't need Cliff's Notes to
understand it-and, best of all, it's a tidy, perfectly wholesome
PG-13.
(09/19/05 6:00am)
More than anything else, the summer of 2005 will be remembered
for jumpstarting the renaissance of the R-rated sex comedy.
(09/14/05 6:00am)
Typically, nature documentaries romanticize their animal
subjects, which is not surprising considering their makers intend
to emphasize the natural beauty inherent in many wildlife
practices. The recent Oscar nominee \Winged Migration"" and
especially this summer's smash hit, ""March of the Penguins,""
humanized their beaked stars, the latter going so far as to suggest
evidence of unconditional parental love in the penguins' grueling,
titular march.
(09/12/05 6:00am)
Moviegoers tend to hold a semi-reliable consensus about movies
of the summer, primarily because thematically trivial popcorn
extravaganzas are the season's bread-and-butter. Critics also, for
the most part, aren't prepping for the Oscars and gearing their
expectations toward \Million Dollar Baby;"" more than ever, the
emphasis is on sheer entertainment value.
(09/09/05 6:00am)
With every passing year, it becomes more and more obvious that
Hollywood needs a new one-man army. The heavyweights of the 80s and
90s have fizzled to some degree. Willis' straightforward action
flicks after \Die Hard With a Vengeance"" are practically
interchangeable, Stallone has only found time to mumble through
some direct-to-video potboilers and reality TV and Schwarzenegger
has his hands full governing California.
(06/03/05 6:00am)
Love him or hate him, Quentin Tarantino is one of the most
vital, influential filmmakers of our generation. Tarantino
possesses tremendous wit and directorial resourcefulness, and has
used both to astonishing degree in each of his features to date. He
is, like Martin Scorsese, an inveterate cinephile who unfailingly
pays homage to his predecessors while creating idiosyncratic films
that feel thrillingly new. His work is the stuff of pure, unrefined
talent; though he may strive to shock or assault your senses,
Tarantino consistently turns out flicks that remind us why we love
film so much in the first place.
(05/05/05 6:00am)
\House of Wax"" is only the latest in an annoyingly trendy glut
of horror ""reimaginations,"" but it is noteworthy for a
particularly peculiar appeal: Paris Hilton's onscreen death.
(05/04/05 6:00am)
Sometimes an actor's reputation is directly affected by his rate
of productivity; appearing in too many movies can wear out a
welcome, while an indefinite hiatus can impair name recognition.
Some actors are better known for their constant output than the
films they appeared in, whereas highly revered, picky stars
flirting with early retirement inspire reliable interest in their
latest project.