Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, October 25,2006

Halloween remakes

Tinseltown busily churns out new versions of classic horror flicks

Hollywood is not currently in its golden age of horror, and to compensate it is remaking the horror films of better days. An unusually high number of horror films from the ’70s have been remade

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, October 18,2006

Scorsese's departed rage

Why is overrated Goodfellas viewed as the yardstick of his career?

By Marc Sigoloff

The Departed is being hailed as Martin Scorsese’s best film since Goodfellas (1990). The new film is a great, solid work that ranks among the director’s great achievements, but the compari

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, October 11,2006

Long live Jack

Nicholson keeps expanding his range

By Marc Sigoloff

Jack Nicholson has reached a milestone with the release of The Departed. His career as a major star has now tied the incredible run of John Wayne. For those in doubt, let’s do the math. Wayne ac

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, October 4,2006

Enough basic training

Realistic portrayals of military life are hard to find

By Marc Sigoloff

The Guardian is a rare military movie in that it focuses on the Coast Guard, but ultimately it is also much different from other noncombat films. The absolute need for major conflict results in the sa

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, September 27,2006

De Palma's nonthrillers

He doesn’t limit himself to one genre -- and that’s why he’s so good

By Marc Sigoloff

The Black Dahlia is the latest murder thriller from Brian De Palma, who has spent his long career trying to shake the label of Hitchcock rip-off artist. The fact that he has made many films in that ge

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, September 20,2006

Hollywood is murder

Homicide is more fascinating when it’s dressed up in a Tinseltown story

By Marc Sigoloff

Murder is more fascinating when it is dressed up as a true Hollywood story, and two new theatrical releases dramatize a pair of legendary stories. Hollywoodland delves into the mystery of Superman sta

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, September 13,2006

Not just a crank

Why Jason Statham is a different kind of action star

By Marc Sigoloff

Jason Statham (pronounced “stay-thum,” with a hard “th”) is a different kind of action star. Unlike Schwarzenegger or Stallone, he speaks fluent English, although it is Cockney

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Thursday, September 7,2006

Crazy actors

When they turn the cameras around, things get weird

By Marc Sigoloff

Hollywood’s biggest recent controversies stem from the behavior of two of its biggest stars. Ironically, the one who committed the lesser crime is the one who was fired. Why is a major studio so

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, August 30,2006

He's in control

Why nobody wants to kill off Samuel L. Jackson

By Marc Sigoloff

One of Samuel L. Jackson’s directors told the screenwriter that he couldn’t kill Jackson’s character. His contention? Jackson is the most trusted man in America, and audiences would

Film - Chuck Koplinski | Wednesday, August 23,2006

Depp in the past

His best film likely is one you missed

By Marc Sigoloff

How could a film starring one of the biggest box-office draws in the world slip by without a trace? In between his Pirates of the Caribbean blockbusters, Johnny Depp starred in a true oddity titled Th