HollywoodandFine.com Writer Bruce Wagner’s script for David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” is of a piece with his other work. It blends a cynical vision of people with an even darker examination of the worship of the superficial that is Hollywood life. But instead of the kind of roiling tale …
HollywoodandFine.com Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s “Focus” brings to mind Tony Gilroy’s similarly complex but more fun “Duplicity,” from a couple of years ago: a tale of love among the con men, in which emotion – considered weakness in this trade – becomes a factor. “Focus” works hard and does …
HollywoodandFine.com Sports movies starring Kevin Costner: It could be a category on “Jeopardy.” But that’s not really a bad thing. While the Costner oeuvre has its share of titles devoted to athletic themes, he hasn’t made many bad ones. He has a solidity and an honesty on screen that make him …
HollywoodandFine.com When James Bond rebooted with Daniel Craig in “Casino Royale,” the blend of old-school spy tale and modern-action sensibility seemed right – if still a little restrained. Imagine now what would happen if James Bond were put in the hands of someone who was willing to not just rethink …
HollywoodandFine.com There aren’t many films from the past 15 years that bowled me over the way “The Matrix” did. Unfortunately, the Wachoskis – Andy and Lana – haven’t come close since then. The “Matrix” sequels proved that not every successful movie deserves to be a trilogy. “Speed Racer” was an …
HollywoodandFine.com Submarine movies rarely end well for the characters, almost never for the submarine itself. It’s a claustrophobic genre and, no matter what the actual plot, the story is always about men trapped in a nature-defying environment when that environment is threatened, often by the actions of the men themselves. …
HollywoodandFine.com Here’s my first problem with Michael Mann’s “Blackhat”: Chris Hemsworth doesn’t have the talent to make me believe he’s smart enough to be an MIT-educated, world-class computer hacker. As I watched him, I kept wondering what a real actor – Mark Ruffalo or Edward Norton, say – would have …
HollywoodandFine.com Stephen Belber’s “Match” is a slight but affecting film built around a stirring central performance by Patrick Stewart. He plays Tobias, a one-time principal male dancer who traveled the world with a ballet company and now makes his living as a choreographer and Juilliard instructor. But, on the day …
HollywoodandFine.com I’ve never felt a particular affinity to the films of the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc: like some, can leave the rest. But their newest, “Two Days, One Night,” pulled me in almost instantly and held me to its gripping conclusion. It’s a small story – an individual’s fight …
HollywoodandFine.com I happened to see Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” before I read the Laura Hillenbrand book about the life of the amazing Louis Zamperini. My guest for an early screening was someone who had read and loved the book – and was dying to see the film. I came away from …