Marc Sigoloff

Director Ridley Scott now seems to be mired in the past. The overwhelming success of Gladiator (2000) led Scott into the Crusades with Kingdom of Heaven, which is now in theaters. He is also attached to the upcoming projects Captain Kidd, Tripoli, and Gladiator 2. That is quite a turn of events for a filmmaker […]

Science fiction suffers too much from George Lucas syndrome, and the primary symptom is an endless barrage of silly names assigned to alien creatures and worlds. The cure is simple: Add a dose of humor, because it’s too difficult to swallow as serious. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is about as goofy as they […]

The outlandish action of Kung Fu Hustle recalls a classic ’70s hit, because everyone is kung fu fighting. No film that features a middle-aged woman in curlers as a kung fu master can be taken seriously, but the goofiness of Kung Fu Hustle is never less than entertaining. American audiences have become far more receptive […]

If your house told you to leave, wouldn’t you listen? Of course you would — unless you were a Lutz. The Amityville Horror, based on what was claimed to be a true story by George and Kathy Lutz, was a huge bestseller and the second most successful horror film of the 1970s. But the only […]

Mickey Rourke is back, and he’s uglier than ever. It’s great to see his triumphant return as the hulking Marv in Sin City, even if you can’t really see him under the mounds of makeup. Rourke became the golden boy of 1980s cinema, and he was carving out a career as the next great rebel […]

Why do so many actors become directors, and why has this resulted in a conspiracy against Martin Scorsese? His recent Academy Award loss to Clint Eastwood marks the third time he has lost the Best Director award to an actor. Previously Robert Redford and Kevin Costner snatched the award Scorsese deserved. Is Million Dollar Baby […]

It was hardly a box-office blockbuster, and it didn’t win any awards, but no movie from 2004 has generated more buzz on the part of film fanatics than Saw. Movie message boards are filled with dissections of every little intricate plot detail. This is a cult phenomenon in the making. Psychodramas often attract obsessive behavior, […]

The technology has been around since 1947, but common public use didn’t begin until the 1980s. Now it has taken another two decades for Hollywood to offer a thriller based on the cell phone. Cellular is a crackerjack action film, and its plot could not have existed without this gadget. And they say there is nothing […]

Movies have no real boundaries, but they are too often limited by the lowest common denominator. Movies must appeal to a mass audience. When a true cinematic mind-bender breaks free of the rigid Hollywood standards it is cause for celebration, but last year offered three movie wonders that managed to shine through in a mediocre […]

The horror! Why has there been such a flood of horror films this year? Is it a reflection of the times? Could audiences be using the fantasy of horror to escape the horrors of the real world? So far in 2005, we have had Hide and Seek, Boogeyman, Alone in the Dark, White Noise, Cursed, […]

Will Smith is such a megastar that I bet you forgot he used to be half of the rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Smith’s current release, Hitch, in which he portrays a dating consultant, is a surprise blockbuster, and it is the perfect vehicle for his charisma and sharp verbal skills. […]