CASINO ROYALERating: M (15+), 144mins, Sony Picture ClassicsReview by Tramp
Interesting cinema. I really enjoyed watching the show, but afterwards reflecting on the film was quite disturbed by it. It is impossible not to be engaged by the fantastic action sequences. At the start of this feature there is an extraordinary foot chase which sets the standard for all the following mayhem. Neatly connecting these set pieces which take place all over the globe is the character development of Bond. Daniel Craig does a terrific job nuancing the role of a killer thug into the urbane, cool secret agent that we all know and love.
This refreshing, re-imagining and re-inventing of the franchise is a modern re-telling of the bloody birth of 007. Interestingly the screenplay is set in post 9/11 present day. This is the most graphically violent of all the Bond films and well deserves its M rating. Read more CRANKReview by Ranaberry
I saw the trailer for this film and thought is looked like a hyped up version of DOA (starring Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan). 'Super jacked up to the max', is a more accurate description. The plot is basic -- professional assassin Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) awakes to discover he has been injected with a poison which will kill him unless he maintains a high level of adrenaline in his sytem. And so, burdened with a choice to die or live fast, begins the most amoral, violent rampage that I have witnessd in recent cinema. No sin to too taboo for this anti-hero in his quest to stay alive whether it be assaults on innocent people, cold-blooded murder, snorting drugs off a dirty bathroom floor like a dog returning to vomit, car chases (and crashes) through a shopping centre, every conceivable type of robbery or sex in a main mall thoroughfare. There is no character development in this film, no sympathy to be had or hoped for. Instead we are asked to accept that, as with most action films I guess, the end justify the means.
Or perhaps not. For the first half of the movie I believed I had finally found a solid replacement for Catwoman as the worst film in history. Read more THE DEVIL WEARS PRADARating: PG, 109mins, Twentieth Century FoxReview by Ranaberry
The Devil Wears Prada is a 'paint by numbers' comedy of self-discovery with some extraordinary performances elevating it to something more than it might have been.
Simply having Meryl Streep in the film immediately draws attention, as it is rare she does anything which does not stir an outcry for another Oscar. This is no exception with her spectacular creation of Miranda Priestly, editor of 'Runway' (a thinly veiled take on 'Vogue' magazine and its editor). Streep, complete with Warhol hair and aura of absolute confidence, makes everyone else seem loud and unforgivably unfashionable, somehow being the Boss from Hell, while also convincing us of the necessity of her actions and demeanour.
Supporting Streep is Stanley Tucci's bitchy, Fairy Godmother performance, which steals almost every scene he is in, leaving little room for Anne Hathaway to shine.
Hathaway's character, Andy Sachs, is too convincingly over her head from the get go, as we quickly recognize that she herself is floundering. Despite being the main character, and doing exactly what she has done to great effect in The Princess Dairies films, this time she is completely upstaged by Streep and Tucci.
The least interesting aspect of the film is Andy's non-fashion life. Lead by Adrian Grenier playing her bland boyfriend, Nate. Read more POSEIDONRating: M, 99mins, Warner BrothersReview by The Reluctant Journalist
Anyone remotely into disaster films will remember the definitive ocean liner disaster epic 'The Poseidon Adventure' made in the early '70's with an A-Grade cast list including Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters and Ernest Borgnine, to name a few. It was only a matter of time before a more updated version of the Paul Gallico novel would be made, and here we have it.
After reading several not so positive reviews on this film I was hesitant to purchase a copy when it was recently released on DVD, but I went against the grain, bought a copy, and to my pleasant surprise, was not disappointed.
To describe this as an action film (which the film was touted as being), is misleading. Sure, there's action (the film IS about a modern-day liner being capsized on New Year's Eve so you do have some expectations), but guys, this is a good ol' fashioned disaster flick, so taken in that vein, Poseidon is quite a good popcorn movie.
Like any typical disaster flick, the film opens with grand views of the luxury liner crossing the ocean on a beautiful clear day with passengers enjoying the many activities on offer to them. The film sets up backgrounds on those passengers you just know will become integral to the plot as it unfolds, but thankfully this is done in a snappy way so as not to waste too much time before the actual event -- ie, the wave -- occurs. As Poseidon has a running time of only 99 minutes the director -- in this case Wolfgang Petersen of The Perfect Storm fame -- has had to neatly package all the relevant info on the main cast as quickly as possible. This cast, which includes Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss, take on their roles with absolute disaster-style seriousness. Read more WHERE THE TRUTH LIESReview by Tramp
This is an accomplished and witty film from acclaimed director Atom Egoyan (Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter). Based on a novel by Rupert Holmes and Atom's screenplay, the story unfolds as an intriguing mixture of Rashomon meets The Fabulous Baker Boys. The framework of the plot hangs on the machinations of a young journalist who is investigating the mysterious break-up of a famous comedy duo 15 years previously.
The Armenian/Canadian film-maker has produced a multi-layered picture that works well as a who-done-it and an insightful examination of the cult of celebrity and the early stirrings of the American Media Monster. He also joyously toys with the reactionary moral conventions which plague contemporary Hollywood movies. The screenplay moves in flashbacks between the mid 50s and early 70s. This is a difficult trick to pull off but Atom does it very well using his trade-mark voice-overs, nostalgic iconography and razor sharp direction.
The casting of this movie was inspirational. Alison Lohman plays the young, free-lance journalist whose personal, medical and family history makes her the perfect investigative instrument to open up the mouldering mystery surrounding the break up of one of the pioneering duos of TV comedy. Read more PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEANRating: PG, 150mins, Walt DisneyReview by Tramp
There should be a new rating for this type of movie, 'AO' - Adolescents Only. I was bored from start to finish. The only slightly amusing thing was counting the amazing number of scenes ripped off from other films. There was the escape from The Count of Monte Cristo, the island of King Kong, the sword-play from The Three Musketeers and the flogging from Mutiny on the Bounty. Oddly the tone of the film was very uneven. There were gross-out scenes and brutal violence interspersed with cartoon make-up and over-the-top special effects. Obviously this movie was produced by a committee of Disney bean-counters who used slide rules, accountancy soft-ware and Mickey Mouse dice to edit the daily rushes. I guess the cost of the stars' salaries and the special effects did not leave any money for a coherent script. There were huge gaps in time-lines, logistics and back-stories. Read more |
Did You Know?
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: When Arthur rides into the village where the 'witch' is about to be burnt, Bedivere is holding a coconut slung from a swallow. |
Alan TudykInterview (Firefly)How did you get a movie from a failed TV show?
Joss Whedon. Well, it also was the fans, you know those sci-fi fans. Firefly, when it was cancelled, they took down the website I think, and then three went up. There was a Firefly website all the time when the TV show was over and it became this community place to go. And they didn?t always just talk about Firefly, but there are all those ?an episode that wasn?t written? type of thing. They do a lot of that. They do a lot of art, they do all kinds of things with it. But Joss Whedon loved the show and didn?t feel like it got a fair shake and was committed to it so totally. When we were cancelled, he said at the party, he said, ?This isn?t over.? Everybody?s like, ?Oh, that?s sweet. I hope he?s right, but?? He said, ?I will produce etchings if that?s all I can produce, but this will happen again, something, some form, it will have a place. And he made it his mission. And after the DVD sales were good, but even before that, he had found people who were of his like mind at Universal Studios. And then it was first the Herculean task of wrenching the rights from Fox, which I can?t even imagine what that was like, but he pulled it off. And we have a lot of support at Universal. They?re really happy with what we?ve done. We?re about a month and a half into shooting now and they?re extraordinarily excited. We all get along so well. It?s ridiculous?
Is the movie bigger?
Yeah, it is bigger. Our costumes are cooler. Our ship is the same although it?s actually a little bit cooler. Hallways are a bit wider to accommodate better acting. It?s not as dangerous. You need wider halls for better acting. The first rule of acting is wide, open space. It?s not as dangerous as a set. It used to be you?d put your hand on something and you?d come away with blood. Now there are very smooth surfaces. It is all a little bit smoother around my bridge. I shot the day before yesterday, it was my first day flying the space ship and I got all sorts of new switches, switches and buttons that light up and I have these two little screens that hang above my head that I never had before that all access different things.
You probably only shoot two pages a day now?
Yeah, we shoot a lot less which is great. We do have that luxury and it is a luxury. But also on the TV show, we did a lot. That element is still there but it?s not as much because it?s not going to be on the TV screen.
How many films are you signed for?
It is a three-picture deal at Universal and I think it?s going to be about how the first one performs to see how the other two do. But the way that it?s been budgeted, I have a lot of faith that it?s going to do well business-wise, on a bottom line sort of scale. I think it?s going to do enough, it?ll be hard not to do what it?s supposed to do. If something cataclysmic would happen, and such a good script too on top of it all, I?m certain there?s going to be three.
How is Joss Whedon handling his feature directing debut?
Well, he loves it because he directed a lot of the TV shows. You know, doing one hour single camera isn?t too far from doing a movie. It?s not that whole multi-camera thing. It?s just a lot faster paced, so it?s the same way of directing just with a lot more time and a lot more opportunity to get it perfect. Twice as much money?Yeah, a lotta money. The pilot that we shot for Firefly, a two hour pilot that Fox decided to show last because it explained the whole story so it was good to show that last. So you knew what you were missing now. You can go, ?Oh, that?s what it meant.? I think we made that for $12 million it was reported at the time. Oh my God, a $12 million pilot, a two hour pilot. And we have 50 million dollars to do two hours now. So we can do a lot.
What is the mission?
I can say this and I can?t say much because Joss will kill me. In the TV show, if you know the characters of River and Simon who are some of the people onboard the ship are wanted by the law. And it got us into trouble a lot. They?re still wanted by the law in the movie, but the Alliance, the law assigns a guy to catch her who?s really, really good at his job. That?s all I can say.
Who plays that character?
Chiwetel [Ejiofor], he was the lead in Amistad. It took me so long to remember Chiwetel. He?s an English actor. It?s on the website. I should know that.
Does it still have the western theme?
I think just like in the series, some of the episodes had more of a western theme than others that depended on the story of which planet we went to. This story doesn?t require it. I think it still lives in that world. I mean, his idea is that we had all of these new planets being terraformed, they became like pioneer days so all that stuff just evolved out of it. It was natural for it to be there alongside technology. But we don?t spend too much time in those types of worlds in the movie, so you don?t see it, but it?s still part of the universe.
Source:
Fred Topel
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