No Country for Old Men
March 7, 2008
After two lackluster efforts – the bland romantic comedy, Intolerable Cruelty (2003) and the unnecessary remake of The Ladykillers (2004) – the Coen brothers return to form with a vengeance with No Country for Old Men (2007). Even though it is an...
The Fugitive: Season 1, Volume 2
March 5, 2008
Created by Roy Huggins and produced by the legendary Quinn Martin, The Fugitive ran from 1963 to 1967. At its heart is a basic premise that is genius in its simplicity. Dr. Richard Kimble (Janssen) comes home to spot a one-armed man (Raisch) running from...
Gone Baby Gone
February 21, 2008
After the very public dissolution of his relationship with Jennifer Lopez and the critical and commercial flop of their film Gigli (2003), Ben Affleck wisely adopted a low profile, taking on modest character roles in films like Hollywoodland (2006) and...
The Invasion
January 29, 2008
To say that The Invasion (2007) had a troubled production history is a mild understatement. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel set out to make an artier and edgier take on Jack Finney’s classic science fiction novel, The Body Snatchers. However, the studio...
The Hunting Party
January 25, 2008
The Hunting Party (2007) harkens back to a trend in the 1980s of films about journalists in war-torn Third World countries: Under Fire (1983), The Killing Fields (1984), and Salvador (1986).These films featured flawed reporters putting their lives on...
Eastern Promises
January 14, 2008
Ever since his big budget remake of The Fly (1986), David Cronenberg has flirted with mainstream success. Known early on in his career as a provocative and original horror/science fiction filmmaker, he began to dabble in other genres with his adaptation...
The Kingdom
January 10, 2008
As the war in Iraq drags on, the number of films about it increases until its own subgenre has been created. Along comes the Michael Mann-produced thriller, The Kingdom (2007) that attempts to fuse the action film with a dose of political intrigue while...
Sunshine
January 4, 2008
In some respects, Danny Boyle is Britain’s answer to Steven Soderbergh – a filmmaker who moves effortlessly from independent to studio films and works in a variety of genres: gritty drug drama (Trainspotting), kids film (Millions) and edgy horror...
The Two Jakes: Special Collector’s Edition
December 18, 2007
Making a sequel to a classic film like Chinatown (1974) was never going to be easy. How do you equal or surpass the original? Robert Towne, who wrote the first film, penned the next installment. However, the film’s original director, Roman Polanski,...
Live Free or Die Hard: Unrated
December 18, 2007
It seems like some of the action stars from the 1980s are trying to make a comeback. You’ve got Sylvester Stallone resurrecting the Rambo franchise. Harrison Ford is donning the hat and bullwhip to play Indiana Jones again. Hell, even Jean-Claude Van...
