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; …
HollywoodandFine.com The less said about “Intruders,” the better. Despite a cast led by Clive Owen (who seems in serious need of career direction), this is a horror movie without a ghost of a chance – or an authentically scary moment. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, “Intruders” operates on two tracks …
HollywoodandFine.com Recent events in the Maldives Islands – specifically, a coup that toppled democratically elected president Mohamed Nasheed by military loyal to his tyrannical predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – give the documentary “The Island President” both an urgency and a poignancy. The film by Jon Shenk chronicles Nasheed’s attempts at …
HollywoodandFine.com Lee Hirsch’s “Bully” can’t help but move you. It’s an important and powerful film, one that should be required viewing for kids of any age – and their parents. With luck, The Weinstein Company will prevail in its battle against the R-rating conferred upon the film by the myopic …
HollywoodandFine.com “Turn Me On, Dammit” could be the Republicans’ worst nightmare: a movie about female sexuality that isn’t smarmy, sensational, exploitive – or judgmental. Talk about subversive. Indeed, this Norwegian film by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen is a total departure: the first teen coming-of-age film I can recall that uses a …
HollywoodandFine.com Our urban schools are screwed up; our teachers are under siege and burnt out; and the parents of the children who cause the most problems are the least involved. So what else is new? If all this seems obvious to you, it apparently comes as a shock to filmmaker …
HollywoodandFine.com With each new movie, filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass show greater assurance as writers and directors. Though their films now feature recognizable (even well-known) actors and their production values are a little glossier, they haven’t lost their determinedly personal take on the stories and characters on which they focus. …
HollywoodandFine.com I’ll give Will Ferrell credit for this: There aren’t many actors who would make an entire comedy in a foreign language just as a joke. Now – if only the joke itself were funny… The movie in question is “Casa de mi Padre,” which feels like a spoof of …
HollywoodandFine.com Say “Jump,” and I’ll ask, “How high?” Say “21 Jump Street” and I’ll ask, “Why? Why? Why?” Why, indeed. The answer seems to be in the credits: because Jonah Hill, who was a preadolescent when the Johnny Depp TV show of the same name was on the air, apparently …
HollywoodandFine.com Playing like some disjointed hybrid of “Strangers on a Train” and “The Parallax View” by way of “Death Wish,” “Seeking Justice” is never terrible – just never terribly anything else, either. Having a seasoned action pro like Roger Donaldson at the helm helps. On the other hand, putting Nicolas …
HollywoodandFine.com Adapt and evolve – hey, it’s what we do. But when you get stuck in the rut of your life without realizing it, it’s nice to have someone unexpected come along and nudge you out of it. That, at least, is one of the lessons to take away from …
HollywoodandFine.com “Silent House” is one of those gimmick-movies that you can easily imagine beginning with a conversation along the lines of, “Hey, you know what would be cool?” In this case, the answer to that question is, “It would be cool to make a horror movie in one continuous unedited …
HollywoodandFine.com There seem to be an endless series of student competitions about which to make documentaries – and any number have been made over the years. From “Spellbound” (about the National Spelling Bee) to last year’s “Louder Than a Bomb” (about high-school poetry slams) to “Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon” …
HollywoodandFine.com Jennifer Westfeldt has slowly built herself a respectable filmography as a writer of smart, entertaining romantic-comedies, beginning with “Kissing Jessica Stein,” continuing through “Ira & Abby,” both of which she also starred in. She’s worked outside the studio system for the most part, because Westfeldt tends to go for …