Movies

Not that we needed any further proof that Hollywood was out of ideas, but today The Hollywood Reporter brings us word that plans have been set in motion for new versions of Arthur and Romancing the Stone. The two films join The Karate Kid and Darren Aronofsky's Robocop reboot in the stable of 80s remakes that we can expect to see hit theaters during the next few years. We can only imagine this means a new License to Drive, starring two of the Jonas Brothers, is in our very near future.

As of now, the Romancing the Stone remake is still in its infancy, with only Eagle Eye screenwriter Daniel McDermott on board (do with that information what you will).  read more »

It's 2 AM and you awake with a jerk, alone in your fully-lit apartment and still on the couch. On TV, the credits of some movie you've already seen a billion times are scrolling by. It feels like rock bottom. And we know, because we're just like you: single.

Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass out to Die Hard 2 [starting @ 10:50 p.m. on 5 Star Max]

Why we'll try to stay up and watch it: At the risk of sounding completely insane, we're of the mindset that the original Die Hard is one of the most influential movies of the last thirty years. Think: the Citizen Kane of the action genre, with John McClane, Hans Gruber and Nakatomi Plaza replacing Charles Foster Kane, James W. Gettys and Xanadu. Interestingly enough, the 15-year-old boys who run Empire Magazine seem to agree with us; on their list of greatest movie characters of all-time, John McClane comes in at #12 with Hans Gruber clocking in at #17.  read more »

The Independent Spirit Awards – or Film Independent's Spirit Awards, whatever title they're going by now – always brings a smile to our face. That's probably because the producers have figured out what the producers of the Oscars are still trying to realize: taking an awards show seriously is a waste of time. So instead of tuxedos and stuffy montages on a Sunday night, the Spirit Awards treat us to jeans and parody songs about the nominees under the warm sun of a Saturday afternoon. This is something we can get behind. That being said, we never consider their nominations as any kind of precursor for the Academy Awards.  read more »

Wendy and Lucy
Running time 80 minutes
Written by Kelly Reichardt and Jon Raymond
Directed by Kelly Reichardt
Starring Michelle Williams

Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, from a screenplay by Ms. Reichardt and Jon Raymond, who worked together on Ms. Reichardt’s previous film, Old Joy (2006), is another exercise in minimalist cinema about ultra-ordinary people. Wendy (Michelle Williams), a young Indiana woman, embarks on a road trip to Ketchikan, Alaska, where she hopes to find a well-paying job. She is traveling with her (and Ms. Reichardt’s) dog, Lucy. So if you were anticipating from the title still another film about two lesbians, fuggedaboutit.  read more »

The Reader
Running time 123 minutes
Written by David Hare
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, David Kross

Stephen Daldry’s The Reader, from a screenplay by David Hare, based on the semi-autobiographical novel The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink, has lost much of the emotional power of the book, which was published in 1995, translated into 40 other languages and became the first German novel to top the New York Times’ best-seller list. The problem with the film arises from a miscalculation on the part of Mr. Daldry, and his screenwriter, Mr. Hare, which involves breaking up the linear narrative of the novel into flash-forwards and flashbacks over a period of 30 years.  read more »

Frost/Nixon
Running time 122 minutes
Written by Peter Morgan
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Toby Jones, Oliver Platt

Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, from the screenplay by Peter Morgan, based on his play, succeeds magnificently in re-creating the historic 1977 television interview as a gripping suspense drama anchored by the brilliantly lived-in performances of Frank Langella as post-Watergate Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as reputedly lightweight celebrity television host David Frost, before he is transformed into an avenging inquisitor. The suspense arises from the fact that Nixon and the people around him agreed to the interview in the first place only because they failed to take Frost seriously as a television journalist, and hence regarded him as no major obstacle to the rehabilitation of Nixon’s image with the American people.  read more »

Frost/Nixon
Running time 122 minutes
Written by Peter Morgan
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Toby Jones, Oliver Platt

If timing is everything, what better moment than the eve of a new presidency to unveil Ron Howard’s riveting, psychologically astute film version of Frost/Nixon? With post-operative America still in intensive care after surviving eight years of George Bush, it seems like a perfect time to remind the world that we once endured a presidency that was even worse.

This is the encompassing but tightly wound stage play by award-winning writer Peter Morgan, who previously dissected the private drama behind the scenes of Princess Diana’s death in the marvelous film The Queen.  read more »

The Reader
Running time 123 minutes
Written by David Hare
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, David Kross

The turkey’s in the soup, the retailers are praying for a Merry Christmas, and the year-end movie countdown is in full swing. I’ve still got a few items on my screening list, but I will go out on a limb right now and predict I will see nothing greater, more haunting, wrenching or profound, than The Reader. I’m preparing you in advance. One viewing is not enough. It opens next week and I can’t wait to see it again.  read more »

So, let’s pretend you are a filmmaker and you want to make a documentary about a natural phenomenon. There are an awful lot of amazing things out in the world to spend a couple of years investigating, right? What’s the deal with those giant squids? Or, why do we have the Northern Lights, or seaweed that can glow in the dark, or those weird, small, tail-less kitties that live in the snow? Is it possible that the octopus came from outer space? That robots are right now planning to overthrow our government? Do elephants really have the best memory? And so on.  read more »

It looks like Shia LaBeouf is one step closer to becoming the next Tom Cruise, but hopefully without all that pesky Scientology/alien baby excess baggage. The young star has just signed on to Paramount's upcoming adaptation of John Grisham's latest novel, The Associate, which hits stores just in time for the last weekend in January. (Note to Doubleday: release John Grisham books for the holidays, so people will buy them as gifts.) Anyway! The Associate follows a young Yale Law School graduate (to be played by Mr. LaBeouf) who gets blackmailed by some shady characters into giving away case secrets at the law firm where he's an associate (hence the title). If this sounds strikingly familiar, it's because we're pretty sure that is the same description for The Firm.  read more »