David Edelstein on Martin Scorsese’s Silence

Martin Scorsese has evidently waited his entire life to direct a saga of martyrdom and Judas-like betrayal on the scale of Silence, his stark, portentous adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel about Portuguese Catholic priests who get put through the wringer (along with their native followers) in 17th-century Japan. The movie …

‘The Gunman’: Cashing the check, paying the price

HollywoodandFine.com Sean Penn is a global activist who puts his money – and, more important, his physical self – where others barely pay lip service. His advocacy on behalf of the voiceless is stirring, but it obviously is also time-consuming and costly. So when a paycheck role like “The Gunman” …

‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’: Chasing killers

HollywoodandFine.com They used to make films like “A Walk Among the Tombstones” on a regular basis: mysteries built around flawed heroes, in which character was as important as plot, and action was the catharsis, not the reason for the story itself. Scott Frank, who directs and adapted the film from …

The week in film: ‘Third Person,’ ‘Jersey Boys’ and more

HollywoodandFine.com Paul Haggis’ “Third Person” may be the year’s most misunderstood film. It’s also one of the most intriguing. A jigsaw puzzle of characters and plots, it might remind some at first of “Crash,” Haggis’ Oscar-winning multiple-character drama. But “Third Person” has a different agenda. Initially, we see three different …

‘Wrath of the Titans,’ reviewed by Marshall Fine

HollywoodandFine.com As I watched the final few minutes of “Wrath of the Titans,” I thought, “What I wouldn’t give to be a 10-year-old boy right now.” That’s absolutely the audience that will enjoy this silly, overblown special-effects extravaganza. At 10, you can still buy into the reality of wild fantasy; …

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