Proof
March 12, 2006
Adapted from the award-winning play of the same name, Proof (2005) should have been a slam dunk come awards season and yet it went largely ignored despite the pedigree of being a Miramax film, being directed by John Madden of Shakespeare in Love (1998)...
Jarhead: Collector’s Edition
March 12, 2006
Anticipation was high for Jarhead (2005), the cinematic adaptation of Anthony Swifford’s book of the same name about his experiences as a U.S. foot soldier in the first Persian Gulf War. The reaction to the movie was underwhelming to say the least as...
Pride and Prejudice
March 10, 2006
Originally titled First Impressions, Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice is considered a classic piece of boy meets girl literature and has already been adapted in to two mini-series (1980 and 1995) and now a second film. The first was...
Sam Peckinpah’s The Legendary Westerns Collection
March 7, 2006
Sam Peckinpah defines the word “maverick.” He came out of Hollywood with his own unique brand of filmmaking that often clashed with studio executives. This resulted in a career of tough, uncompromising movies that were either loved or hated – there...
Elizabethtown
March 7, 2006
Cameron Crowe is something of a rarity in that he’s a filmmaker who makes deeply personal films within the Hollywood system. From his debut with Say Anything (1989) to his best film to date, Almost Famous (2000), he effortlessly blends comedy and drama...
Dead Poets Society: Special Edition
March 7, 2006
Dead Poets Society (1989) is significant in Robin Williams’ career in that it was his most dramatic role at that point. Also, it was a film in which he did not have the most screen time. His character is not the central focus; rather it is the boys...
Two for the Money
March 4, 2006
Director D.J. Caruso got his start in T.V. working on shows like the short-lived Buddy Faro, Dark Angel and edgier material like The Shield and Robbery Homicide Division. He soon migrated to the same kind of dark material with his feature films, The Salton...
In Her Shoes
March 4, 2006
Curtis Hanson is a chameleon-like filmmaker. From L.A. Confidential (1997) to Wonder Boys (2000) to 8 Mile (2002), he refuses to be pigeon-holed by any one genre. His latest effort, In Her Shoes (2005), adapted from Jennifer Weiner’s novel by Erin Brockovich...
Forbidden Games
March 2, 2006
Francois Boyer wrote a screenplay called Forbidden Games but was unable to sell it because of the frank way it dealt with death during the German blitz on France in World War II. So, he rewrote it as a novel and got it published in 1947 under the title,...
The Bad Sleep Well
March 2, 2006
The Bad Sleep Well (1960) marked the debut of filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s independent production company. He had grown tired of making samurai films for the studio and wanted to do something different. The subject matter of his new movie – corporate...
