MOVIE REVIEW – 2012
2012 Director: Roland Emmerich Writers: Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser Producers: Harald Kloser, Mark Gordon, Larry J. Franco Stars: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Tom McCarthy, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Liam James, Morgan Lily, Zlatko Burić, Beatrice Rosen I lost count of the number of times characters in 2012 ran [...]
MOVIE REVIEW – Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are Director: Spike Jonze Writers: Screenplay by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers, based on the book by Maurice Sendak Producers: John B. Carls, Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Vincent Landay, Maurice Sendak Stars: Max Records, Catherine Keener, and featuring the vocal talents of James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Hero
Originally published 9/13/04 Hero Director: Zhang Yimou Writers: Feng Li, Bin Wang, Zhang Yimou Producer: Bill Kong, Zhang Yimou Stars: Jet Li, Daoming Chen, Tony Leung Chu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen, Zhang Ziyi You begin with the premise that all movie action is inherently a lie. Outrunning explosions in slow-motion, having vicious fistfights that [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – The Manchurian Candidate
Originally published 9/9/04 The Manchurian Candidate Director: Jonathan Demme Writers: Screenplay by Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris, based on the screenplay by George Axelrod and the novel by Richard Condon Producers: Jonathan Demme, Ilona Herzberg, Scott Rudin, Tina Sinatra Stars: Denzel Washingston, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Kimberly Elise, Jon Voight When the characters in this [...]
More than I can chew
Last night I polished up two 10-minute plays. One of them I wrote in a flurry of creativity back in September; the other I wrote nearly seven years ago as a wedding present for a dear friend in one of the many penniless phases of my adult life. The first was relatively simple – its [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Collateral
Originally published 8/17/04 Collateral Director: Michael Mann Writer: Stuart Beattie Producers: Michael Mann, Julie Richardson Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Bruce McGill Nobody shoots Los Angeles like director Michael Mann (Thief, Heat). The skyscrapers look like Monument Valley in steel and glass. The freeways, shot from directly overhead, look like [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Alien vs. Predator
Originally published August 12, 2004 Alien vs. Predator Director: Paul W.S. Anderson Writer: Screen story by Paul W.S. Anderson and Dan O’Bannon & Ronald Shusett, Screenplay by Paul W.S. Anderson, based on the “Alien” characters created by Dan O’Bannon & Ronald Shusett and the “Predator” characters created by Jim Thomas & John Thomas Producers: Gordon [...]
Yes, this is me allowing hope in
I often say that working in the film business is like being a sprinter lined up in the stadium for a 400-meter dash; only you don’t wait seconds for the starter to fire his pistol, you wait months, maybe years. But he could pull that trigger at any moment, and Jimmy, you’d better keep limber [...]
Statistics still amuse me
I see I have been quoted with smiley-props on a Ray Stevenson fan forum for my old King Arthur review, and that someone else found this blog by using the search words “jason schwartzman smarmy”. I highly approve of both these developments.
Still foolish enough to believe
I don’t know what I’m going to do more often in this life; fall in love or let myself hope I actually have a chance of making a movie. A new opportunity for the latter came into sharper focus today – I have a small raiding party together and we’ve breached the first couple doors [...]