The summer movie season is upon us, and that means more popcorn on the screen than in the bucket. You can count the original ideas on one hand, what with the endless array of sequels, remakes, updates, and rehashings flooding the multiplexes. Check your brain at the ticket booth and come back for it in […]
Marc Sigoloff
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie review
This Helen will launch a thousand snores The title figure of Raising Helen (Kate Hudson) lives in a tame version of the fast lane. Executive assistant to the head of a successful modeling agency (Helen Mirren), Helen is on her way to becoming an agent when her life is sidetracked by a tragedy. After a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Pitt shows he’s not just a big-screen pretty boy
Anyone who saw Brad Pitt’s first major screen role as the hitchhiker in Thelma and Louise should have realized that here was a future star. The part was small, but Pitt made it stand out with his natural screen charisma and peculiar sense of humor. His detractors attribute his success to his “pretty boy” looks, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Four best bets for Denzel Washington fans
Some people who work in film are actors, and some are stars. Denzel Washington is undeniably both. The TV drama St. Elsewhere first brought him attention, but his supporting role as antiapartheid martyr Steve Biko in Cry Freedom proved that he belonged on the big screen. Throughout his impressive career he has shifted effortlessly from […]
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A few hidden gems at the video store
As usual, there’s not much of great interest in the local cinemas at this time of the year, so it’s a good time to visit the video store. Here are some odds and ends I found recently: • All the Real Girls (2003). David Gordon Green may be the least-known great new American director. Given […]
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From the director of the Rings
Peter Jackson is clearly the director of the new millennium thanks to the blockbuster success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what are his origins as a filmmaker? Very few Americans have seen his previous films. The bizarre nature of Jackson’s pre-Rings films prevented them from connecting with mainstream audiences, but cult status […]
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For Jack Nicholson, not all that’s gold has glittered
Jack Nicholson has had the greatest career in Hollywood history. His status as a star is now in its 34th year, which is nearly as long as John Wayne’s run. Even an icon can have some overlooked films, and here are some of Nicholson’s lost gems: • The King Of Marvin Gardens (1972). Nicholson is […]
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On the big screen
The early months of the year are often viewed as the dog days of Hollywood, but many quality films are released during that period. Here are what appear to be the highlights of the first batch of 2004 releases. Release dates are subject to change. JANUARY The Big Bounce. Adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel […]
Posted inNews
Film arts
Many filmgoers assume that any movie categorized as an “art” film must be boring. This distinction is unfortunate and inaccurate. Has there been a funnier film, in recent years, than Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, or a more exciting crime thriller than the Brazilian youth gang saga City of God? Both of these films were […]
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For swashbuckling adventures, what’s old is new again
The success this year of Pirates of the Caribbean and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World have made period adventures fashionable again. This should breathe new life into some classics from the past. • Alexander Nevsky (1938). The great Russian director Sergei Eisenstein is so lauded as a silent film artist his […]
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Three gems and a bad Wedding
Why do so many good films slip by under the radar when bad films become huge hits? This peculiarity has plagued Hollywood since its inception, and these four releases from 2002 prove that things are business as usual. • Punch-Drunk Love. This is the Adam Sandler movie that Adam Sandler fans hate. Can there be […]
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Some flicks sure to deliver the willies
Halloween’s coming and it’s time to get spooked. Our recommendation: Watch a scary movie. Local video stores stock plenty of frightening choices, but some films are more disturbing than others. Here are our recommendations of some recent (mostly) releases guaranteed to curdle your blood: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The remake currently in area theaters […]
