Est. 1998
I’m caught in a dilemma here. On the one hand, here’s a fascinating film that I want to dissect for pages and pages. On the other, this is one of these movies that you should know the least about before watching it. All I knew, I got from the teaser trailer: Bruce Willis is this dude who was in a train that derailed, all 131…
Movie Infos Title: Strictly Sinatra Rating: Year: 2001 Director: Peter Capaldi Writer: Peter Capaldi Time: 97 min. Genre: Romantic comedy/Gangster Drama Here’s a pretty good little Scottish film which could be a spin-off of The Godfather, if you’d take the subplot about how lounge singer Johnny Fontane’s career gets a boost when Don Corleone makes a producer “an offer he couldn’t refuse” and make a…
“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” is a perfect example of a comedy that, despite its good intentions, fails to explore a controversial issue because it completely surrenders to idiotic jokes and stereotypes instead of approaching its subject matter with subtle wittiness. But what is there to expect from a flick that stars high-profile comedian Adam Sandler as a hardcore playboy pretending…
Early on, “The Fighter” star/producer Mark Wahlberg approached Martin Scorsese to direct the film. Then Darren Aronofsky was attached for a while, but ended up stepping down, though he’s still credited as an executive producer. I’m going through this little bit of development history because the final film, which ended up being directed by David O. Russell, has much less in common with the latter’s…
In “Scream 2”, when these film students are arguing about sequels, they’re way off the track. They seem to settle on “The Godfather part 2” as the best sequel ever, but they don’t even mention “Lethal Weapon 2”. For once, a sequel that ain’t just a lame rehashing of the original. In fact, “LW 2” is a much better film than its predecessor. It’s smarter,…
Switzerland, a swanky hotel. A suspicious billionaire is throwing a big party. Everything goes well until an uninvited guest shows up. The name’s Tasker. Harry Tasker. He’s played with mucho machismo by the unique Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tasker is kinda like a more badass James Bond. He has a cool Austrian accent, but he can speak 5 different languages. He’s also quite humorous and no one’s…
Red State (Kevin Smith)88 [ Inspired by Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church and their bullshit “God Hates Fags” campaign, but also by the Waco siege and the U.S. government’s post-9/11 excesses, Smith has put together a violently nihilistic film that comes off like an unholy cross between “Hostel”, “There Will Be Blood” and “Die Hard”, if that makes any sense. Going back and forth…
Zemeckis, you magnificent bastard! Yup, the man behind “Back to the Future” and “Forrest Gump” has done it again, directing a third full-on masterpiece in as many decades. Many will be tempted to praise “Beowulf” mostly as an astonishing technical achievement, which it is – “The Polar Express” was already impressive, but this is a whole other ballpark, quite possibly the dawn of a new…
(1 Apr) The Fifth Element (1997, Luc Besson)91 [ Reviewed on Extra Beurre ] (1 Apr) Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016, Jake Szymanski)36 [ I enjoy a dumb, vulgar comedy as much as the next guy – hey, I watched this because I surprisingly liked Aubrey Plaza and Zac Efron in “Dirty Grandpa”, of all things. But this is… not good. Oh, it’s…
Spike Lee’s back, with a vengeance. After a string of forgettable joints, Lee finally gets his groove back with this no holds barred satire, his best film since “Malcolm X”. Here’s a movie that might make you angry or sad, a movie that will make you think, and a movie that will entertain you too, but in a perverse way. I laughed quite a bit…