Once Upon a Time in America
I love trolling the discount bins at Newbury Comics and other stores that sell DVDs, because you never know what sort of fun treasures you’ll find for very little money. Case in point: I recently came across Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. I had heard of th
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
My father recommended this film to me, years ago, and from the first time I watched it I knew right away that he was right on the money in declaring it to be a masterful work. Made in 1974, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three stars Walter Matthau as New York City transit chief Lt. [&h
Howard/Nixon
I love movies, and I am fascinated by politics, so it’s no surprise that I am always up for a good political movie. And make no mistake, Ron Howard’s latest film, Frost/Nixon, is a very good political movie. Adapted by Peter Morgan from his own play (which attracted noti
“He was Some Kind of a Man” — An Orson Welles Double Feature
I first saw Citizen Kane in college, during a fantastic class called Film Architecture (one of the best classes I had in college). I’ve seen it several times since then, and while I wouldn’t list Kane as my favorite film of all time, I certainly understand why many consi
How to edit a movie, starring The Incredible Hulk
In the weeks before Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk opened this summer, there were a lot of stories on-line and in various entertainment magazines about a dispute over the editing of the film between Marvel and star Edward Norton (who played Bruce Banner). As the tale was told, N
Kevin Smith and Seth Rogen Make a Pretty Great Movie
In the new comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, we witness the interesting collision of two comedy worlds. Kevin Smith has been making raunchy comedies since his black-and-white, made-for-no-money-whatsoever debut film Clerks. Although his subsequent films (Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogm
Quantum of Solace, Watchmen, and Star Trek!
So Steph and I caught Quantum of Solace on Friday — What a fun time in a theatre! The showing started off with several exciting trailers for some of the big blockbusters that will be arriving in the spring. Quite a few of them didn’t interest me, such as Angels & Dem
J.J. Abrams’ new Starship Enterprise design revealed — oh, the pain!
I seem to be alternating between manic euphoria over the impending arrival of J.J. Abrams’ big-screen big-budget Star Trek relaunch/reboot/whatever, and tremendous pessimism that a film trying to re-cast the iconic roles of Kirk, Spock, etc., can’t possibly be good. On the
Once Upon a Time in Appaloosa
I am not very well-versed in Westerns, but I do know that I usually enjoy them when I see them. When I heard that Ed Harris was directing the new Western, Appaloosa (only his second time directing, the first being the phenomenal Pollock), I was interested. The terrific cast —