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 Amusing and slight, “What We Do in the Shadows” is a mockumentary drawn from the same sensibilities that produced “Flight of the Conchords,” “Eagle v. Shark” and “Boy,” among others. Written and directed by the team of Jemaine Clement and Taiki Watiti, this film presents a flock (coven? pride? …
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 spent years as a critic waiting eagerly for the end of the year, when I could finally (and with great deliberation) craft my 10-best list of movies for the year. No longer. Ten-best lists are, I’m afraid, a dime a dozen. Everybody has their own – and anyone …