John Madden’s 1998 film “Shakespeare in Love” proposed a secret love affair as being the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s most popular play, “Romeo and Juliet.” The film’s widespread success revealed the public’s longing to find a real human being behind the name of the iconic poet and playwright who composed at least 37 plays, 154 sonnets,…
There is a moment early in Kenneth Branagh’s intricately constructed adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit when Hercule Poirot (Branagh) stands on the deck of a ship as it leaves Istanbul. Poirot is captured center frame: The deck, the railing, the adjacent cabin and the sea itself are balanced perfectly around him. The shot is…
In case you didn’t know it — Kenneth Branagh is a director who really grasps the magic of the screen. Whether it’s through Shakespearean adaptations like “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Hamlet,” or one of the larger tent-poles like “Thor” and “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” viewers can be sure of one thing: They’re in for…
It’s been 12 years since Jack Ryan has been on the big screen. Since then, Jason Bourne was introduced and conquered and James Bond was rebooted to follow suit. Now, with the Russians plotting to cripple the American economic markets, and Shakespearean director Kenneth Branagh (“Thor”) directing Chris Pine (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) as Tom…
They tried Ben Affleck as as the young Jack Ryan 11 years ago in “The Sum of All Fears” but that experiment didn’t work out so well. Today, we get our first taste of Chris Pine as the infamous operative in the trailer for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Well actually, he doesn’t start out as…
Since I have never read a Thor comic book (don’t intend to either), nor do I have much insight into the Norse mythology from which he spawned, I really had no idea as to what kind of story to expect from the heavily hyped Thor (the trailers weren’t much help). But thanks in part to…
