When The Talented Mr. Ripley was released in late 1999, there was a lot of hype surrounding it. Matt Damon was hot at the box office thanks to Good Will Hunting. Gwyneth Paltrow had received the “Best Actress” Academy Award for Shakespeare in Love. Newcomer Jude Law was hailed asContinue Reading
Stephen King’s novels have a roller-coaster like history in terms of movie adaptations. For every Misery, there is an Apt Pupil and a Maximum Overdrive. That’s not to say that every Stephen King story is a masterpiece but it is a reminder that just because his name is associated with something doesn’t necessarily meanContinue Reading
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) hates his life. He hates his job as a writer for an advertising magazine. He’s grown apart from his family. His wife (Annette Bening), a real estate saleswoman, is “joyless” and his teenage daughter (Thora Birch) resents him. The highlight of his day is masturbating inContinue Reading
When architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) and a co-worker discuss crime rates in 1974 New York, the co-worker suggests putting the underprivileged into concentration camps so that decent people can be safe. Kersey feels that the underprivileged deserve a break and is called a “bleeding heart.” Kersey’s feelings take anContinue Reading
The second of last year’s two big costume dramas (the first being Shakespeare in Love), Elizabeth tells the story of Queen Elizabeth’s rise to power and her initial troubles in retaining the throne. It’s a tale of back-stabbing, love with ulterior motives, politics and misguided religious fervor gone wrong. It’sContinue Reading
I’m not quite sure how to classify Velvet Goldmine. It’s a fictional bio-pic. It’s a musical of sorts. It’s pretty to look at. It’s fairly tedious to sit through. The story centers around 70’s glam rocker, Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), who fakes his own death and disappears in 1974. InContinue Reading
Even if I didn’t know better, I’d have finished watching 54 and wondered, “What happened to the rest of the movie?” Alas, I do know that 54‘s director, Matt Christopher, wanted to make a different picture than the one we can now rent at the local Blockbuster. It shows. TheContinue Reading