Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 12th, 2007
The Arrangement is a film that I had always heard the name of, but never really heard anything about. It's rare for a film to be directed by the author of the book that it is based on. In fact, I can't recall ever seeing that before. Upon watching the film, it is obvious to me how important it is for a director to have a clear understanding of the story he is trying to tell. Kazan knows this story inside and out, and even the slightest nuance of the least-important scene contributes to the story being told.
The arrangement tells the story of Eddie, a high-powered advertising executive who has a very unexpected midlife crisis within the first few minutes of the film. As viewers, we spend the rest of the movie examining his life, and slowly discovering what led him to this tumultuous point in his life. The film actually reminded me a lot of The Graduate, if Dustin Hoffman had been in this 40's. Here, Kirk Douglas plays the Benjamin Braddock role, with just a bit of Sybil thrown in for good measure.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 12th, 2007
It's really hard for me to review films such as this one. On the one hand, I firmly believe in film preservation, and the importance of not shying away from history, no matter how painful it may be. On the other hand, it's difficult for me to enjoy a film that so casually deals with the trade of humans. Band of Angels tells the story of the daughter of a plantation owner who is sent away to school. Her father is a good and kind man, for he has never beaten his slaves. When he falls deathly ill, she rushes back...to the plantation to be by his side. Upon his arrival, she finds her father dead, and slave traders waiting for her. As it turns out, her mother, which she has never met, was a “negro”, which means that she is to be sold at market with the rest of the slaves.
Starting to see why I was so uncomfortable now? The thing is, I can see the noble intentions behind this film, originally released in 1957. Clearly, this is a film that means to convince audience members that slavery and racism are wrong. However, it's hard for me to hear that message when the dreaded “n” word is being thrown around so much. To be fair, the second half of the film is much more friendly for modern audiences, but I just can't say that I felt right about watching this thing. It's a shame too, because both Clark Gable and a very young Sidney Poitier have major roles which they handle quite well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2007
The Holy Bible has been the source for many incredible epics. One might argue that the Book itself is the first epic. From De Mille's Ten Commandments to Gibson's recent Passion of the Christ we have been enthralled by tales of faith and the divine since the very birth of the cinema. One Night With The King has all the essential elements to take its place with these classics. The cast includes some of the greatest actors alive in Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole, and John Rys-Davies. The settings are some of the most beautiful desert lands on earth. Sadly, One Night With The King stands very small in the midst of such brilliance. The film means well, certainly. The story of Esther is not one that has been told on any scale before and is very much worthy of the effort. There appears to be an overwhelming lack of spirit throughout the overlong film. The film always feels staged and the dialogue often too modern sounding to create the necessary illusion. Sharif must have suffered immeasurably opposite a rather forced and dull Luke Goss. Unfortunately a great amount of talent and effort appears wasted on this sub-par film.The supporting cast is simply horrible. There is no dialog discipline at all. Phrases constantly move from modern to mock Shakespearean to gibberish. James Callis is reproducing his Baltar role here.
The story of Esther is actually a compelling one. Based more on the novel Hadassah than the Biblical account, the film has a story with enough potential. She was a young Jewish woman living in Persia. Jews have lost favor in the kingdom and are openly persecuted. Hadassah changes her name to Esther to avoid the ethnic liability. When the Queen defies a summons by her King, she is released from her royal position. Esther finds herself in competition to become the new Queen. It is from this position she hopes to better the plight of her people. The story soon descends into the clichéd plots of intrigue about the crown. Various plots are made and uncovered that put Esther in a vulnerable position. She must eventually reveal her true heritage and once again win over the King's heart. The script ventures down far too many side roads and soon becomes tedious to follow.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2007
The Departed, a basic remake of the Hong Kong film Internal Affairs, tells the story of Boston mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) and his ruling ways of the streets. An early scene in the film shows Costello recruiting a young boy inside a convenience store (where he naturally picks up his commission promising to keep his men out of the neighborhood). The film soon flashes forward to a semi-present day where we meet a man named Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon). Turns out that this is the child Frank recruited in the previous scene. Luckily for Costello, Sullivan has just joined the prestigious Massachusetts State Police. His ultimate role is to make sure the cops never get to Costello. Now we know why the Department thinks Costello is so "clever" and can "always anticipate their every move".
We soon meet another character named Billy Costigan (Leonardo Dicaprio), a man who wants nothing more than to be a cop. Costigan is interviewed by two detectives named Dignam (Mark Whalberg) and Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen) who ultimately decide that Costigan has to go undercover as a mole joining the ranks of Costello's mob group. Costigan's ultimate goal is to find out which man Costello has working as a mole in the State Police. The rest of the film follows convincing sequence after sequence as each group tries to undercover each other's mole all while trying to keep their act up.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2007
There are a few early sequences in Hollywoodland that show two important aspects of the film. First these sequences show us the type of man that George Reeves was trying to become (simply trying to get noticed) and, possibly more important, the type of actor that Affleck is becoming as his career becomes more about making quality films than making sure-fire moneymakers.
Based on the true story of the Hollywood unsolved murder of TV�s George Reeves, Hollywoodland stars accomplished actors Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins and Adrien Brody. Each plays a rather pivotal role in the film either as Reeves� lover (Diane Lane), her estranged husband (Bob Hoskins), a private investigator (Adrien Brody) or the man himself George Reeves (Ben Affleck in quite possibly his finest peformance to date).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2007
Ever write off a movie based solely on the buzz? I did that with Hollywoodland before I'd ever heard the actual title - someone asked, "did you hear about Ben Affleck's new movie? I hear it stinks." Given Affleck's recent string of box office flops, that's all it took for me to avoid the film.
Of course, it's not just an Affleck movie; it also stars Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Diane Lane (Under the Tuscan Sun) and Bob Hoskins (Mrs. Henderson Presents). As expected, these actors turn in fine performances, creating characters that keep viewers' interest while the film meanders its way through one of Hollywood's unsolved mysteries. The nice surprise here, though, is that Affleck (Surviving Christmas) more than holds his own with a superb performance as George Reeves. It's easy to forget that Affleck is a talented actor, but if you think back to films like Shakespeare in Love and Good Will Hunting, his performance here is less of a surprise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2007
This could be my shortest film review ever: watch Step Up for the dancing - the rest is a formulaic bunch of "whatever".
But since you're reading, here's a little more. Like Save The Last Dance, Step Up is a teen dance/romance movie. The story follows Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum), a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, and Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan), a privileged ballet student attending a prestigious school for the arts. Tyler's your typical bad boy, stealing cars, getting into scuffles at night clubs and - of course - dancing up a hip-hop storm. Lucky for him, trouble leads him into doing community service at Nora's school. She's busy preparing for a really important dance at the senior fall showcase, which will make or break her dance career.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2007
Based on Augusten Burroughs� popular biographical memoir of the same name, Running With Scissors is a dark, comedic tale of surviving a bizarre and painful childhood.
The film covers Augusten�s life mostly from about age 12 to 16. Part of what makes this film intriguing is that it�s so outlandish that viewers can hardly anticipate events before they happen, so I will attempt to avoid spoiling it all in this review. With that in mind, here�s my very high-level plot summary: Augusten�s parents� relatio...ship is at best antagonistic. His mother, Deirdre (Annette Bening), is bipolar and becomes worse as the film progresses. His father, Norman (Alec Baldwin), is an alcoholic. The marriage crumbles very early in the film, which leads to Augusten becoming intimately acquainted with his mother�s therapist, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), and Finch�s family.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2007
The relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor appeared to blossom when they were both on the set of Cleopatra. The epic film was famous, not for the success of the film but more for the near bankruptcy of the studio and for the romance that blossomed between the two. Warner Brothers has recently been releasing groups of films surrounding various film icons, and this set of four titles focuses on the two acting giants.
The V.I.P.s was the first film after Cleopatra for both performers, and ironically enough they play a married couple on the downside of a marriage. Taylor plays Frances and Burton plays Paul, a wealthy businessman who treats Frances as more of a business chore than anything else, until one day Frances decides to leave Paul and for the waiting arms of Marc (Louis Jourdan, Octopussy). Marc is a gigolo but seems to have reformed for Frances. Frances and Marc are about to fly to New York until fog keeps them in, along with a few other notable individuals. Les (Rod Taylor, The Birds) is a rather convincing Australian businessman who is desperate to get to America to change a business deal that will save him financially, and his secretary Miss Mead (Maggie Smith, Clash of the Titans) will help him try to accomplish that. Max (Orson Welles, Touch of Evil) is trying to get out of England for tax purposes, and will even resort to marriage to try and do it. Margaret Rutherford (Blithe Spirit) won an Oscar in her role as the elderly Duchess.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2007
The Rock � sorry, Dwayne Johnson � sure has come a long way from his melodramatic days as a WWE superstar. His first major film role, as the Scorpion King in 2001�s The Mummy Returns was more about his physical presence than any acting ability. Two years later, he proved he could handle action comedy with The Rundown. Now, with Gridiron Giants, Johnson has added the drama notch to his genre belt.
The film, based on a true story and following a 1993 TV documentary of the same name, tells...the story of a group of juvenile criminals who learn how to turn their lives around through participation in a football team, coached by their detention center supervisor (Johnson).
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