Subtlety has always been a foreign concept to Oliver Stone, even back when he was in great form, so it’s not exactly surprising when various characters make a pitiful attempt at thematic commentary by blatantly spitting out the title in Stone’s latest movie, a wobbly, wandering drug dealers vs. cartels thriller. But while a few…
A few years ago, while reviewing Turkish film director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s 2006 great film, “Climates,” I wrote: [quote]“Climates” is a masterpiece, but it is more than that. It is also possibly an augur to even better things cinematically. It is not an overstatement to declare that Ceylan may be the best living filmmaker today….
I have never claimed to be a screenwriter (nor would I even try to), but it seems to me that if The Watch had just been about a group of goofy, inept, over-the-top neighborhood watchmen, then it could have been a much tighter, coherent and interesting endeavor. Under the eye of director Akiva Schaffer (“Hot…
The French Revolution kicked off in 1789, not too long after America’s ended. Fortunately for King George III, he lived in London and not Philadelphia or Boston. King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were not so lucky; their revolution sprouted on their doorstep. The four days which Farewell, My Queen covers, the 14-17…
If you are looking for an alternative to blockbuster superhero movies or Hollywood cookie-cutter romantic comedies, you can do no better than Oliver Nakache and Eric Toledano’s film, The Intouchables. Though it has aspects that are familiar and even formulaic, the film redeems itself with its honest emotion and humane message of how vastly different…
“You’ll hunt me. You’ll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that’s what needs to happen. Because sometimes the truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded,” Batman proclaims ominously at the end of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” — the critically-acclaimed second installment in the…
I’ve got one burning question: Why wasn’t there a Big Wet Water Park in the tri-state area during my formative years? You know the kind that objectifies women and follows the tried and true path pioneered by strip clubs. The kind that is a sanctuary for college-aged girls to drink and consume drugs at, frolic…
