Lord of the Rings – New York Film Critics Circle

‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’: Three’s the charm

Marshall Fine December 18, 2014 December 18, 2014 Members / Recent News

HollywoodandFine.com And so it comes to an end – again. Some might argue that, having taken the dense “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and condensed it into three monumental films, Peter Jackson should have had no trouble turning “The Hobbit” into an equally enjoyable and involving one-off. Guess again. The …

Week in Film: ‘Maleficent,’ ‘Million Ways to Die’ and more

Marshall Fine May 30, 2014 May 30, 2014 Members / Recent News

HollywoodandFine.com I’m not going to apologize for laughing my ass off at Seth MacFarlane’s “A Million Ways to Die in the West.” And I’m not going to compare it to “Blazing Saddles.” Yes, they’re both spoofs of westerns with their own unique brand of gross-out humor. But that’s as far …

‘Winter’s Tale,’ reviewed by Marshall Fine

Marshall Fine February 12, 2014 February 12, 2014 Members / Recent News

HollywoodandFine.com Akiva Goldsman’s track record is a spotty one, chockablock with commercially successful films full of formulaic writing and manipulatively sentimentalized emotion. Or just plain hogwash: “Batman & Robin,” anyone? Sure, he won an Oscar for Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind,” as middlebrow a choice as you could get in …

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,’ reviewed by Marshall Fine

Marshall Fine December 7, 2012 December 7, 2012 Members / Recent News

HollywoodandFine.com My heart sank when I heard that Peter Jackson, having already made the greatest fantasy trilogy of all time in “The Lord of the Rings,” was going back to the well once more, this time taking the reins of “The Hobbit” from Guillermo del Toro. And then that it …

‘The Bourne Legacy,’ reviewed by Marshall Fine

Marshall Fine August 9, 2012 August 9, 2012 Members / Recent News

HollywoodandFine.com Tony Gilroy is the smartest, most intriguing screenwriter since William Goldman was in his heyday. In a variety of films – including his own “Michael Clayton” and “Duplicity” – Gilroy has demonstrated both a toughness and a cleverness that few contemporary screenwriters possess. He comes through again with “The …

‘Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope,’ reviewed by Marshall Fine

Marshall Fine April 2, 2012 April 2, 2012 Members / Recent News

HollywoodandFine.com I am on the record – aggressively so – as being opposed to the mentality that has turned Comic-Con, the annual San Diego geek festival, into the force that seems to guide Hollywood. So I walked into Morgan Spurlock’s “Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope” (in limited release 4/6/12) …