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Michael Bay has been polluting the cinematic world for well over a decade now. His films have gone from bad (Bad Boys) to worse (The Island), and he’s established himself as a sort of modern day Edward D. Wood Jr., albeit one with far more money in his wallet, and far less passion in [...]

In the mid 1970’s through the early ’80’s a small group of filmmakers emerged from Down Under to create a sort of Australian New Wave. This group consisted of directors like George Miller (Mad Max)and Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career), and actors such as Judy Davis, Mel Gibson, and Nicole Kidman. All would go on [...]

Wait a second. A samurai movie that focuses on relationships and family? That’s right. Yoji Yamada’s The Twilight Samurai is unlike any samurai film I’ve ever seen, and that’s a good thing. The story is set in mid 1800’s Japan, and the focus is a man named Sebei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada), [...]

Based on the novel by Zoe Heller, adapted for the screen by Patrick Marber (Closer), and starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal seems to be a typical bigger budget extension of Masterpiece Theater, so you can imagine my surprise after putting the DVD in. This is a film that works [...]

The first thing that struck me about Stephen Frears’ The Queen is that the film is an incredibly intimate portrait of two remarkably courageous women. On the one hand, we have Queen Elizabeth II, on the other, Diana, Princess of Wales. These women are important, famous, and powerful individuals, but the film treats them both as human beings as common as you and me. This is not the story of one woman’s stubbornness as a result of centuries of tradition, but instead a battle of wills between two people who had once been related through marriage. The only problem is that one of these women continues the battle, even when the other is being prepared to go to her grave.

Those of you out there, like me, who didn’t get a chance to catch Little Children in a theater, take heed. Here’s your chance to see one of the best films of 2006. Todd Field (In the Bedroom) has returned to the director’s chair after a five year hiatus, and he delivers one of the bravest and most honest films of recent years. He has made a film that seems to go against everything that Hollywood usually offers us. This is a strong film with provocative subject matter, made for mature audiences that want to be challenged.

Back in 2002, a man by the name of Joe Carnahan hit the movie scene with a film called Narc. The film was a typical routine cop thriller, but it was done well. It was stylish, well acted, and fairly intelligent. Most importantly, it made Joe Carnahan a name to remember. This was a director with promise, a filmmaker on the rise. After the success of that film, Carnahan signed on to direct Mission Impossible III, but after months of preproduction Carnahan left the project due to “creative differences” (that’s Hollywood slang for getting canned). Now, to some filmmakers that could be a huge roadblock, but Carnahan was smart enough to know that he had to act quick in order to save his career. The result, sadly, is Smokin’ Aces.

This last year has been really great for Forest Whitaker. His performance in The Shield is one of the greatest in television history, and the same could apply to film for his Oscar winning portrayal of General Idi Amin Dada in The Last King of Scotland. The only problem is that the film isn’t worthy of his performance. The film is sometimes heavy handed, while other times it avoids its subject too much. Whitaker, however, is funny, charming, paradoxical, and ultimately terrifying, making this very flawed film a must see experience.

You’ve seen the trailers, you’ve heard the hype, you know you want to see it. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have arrived with their double feature homage to the trash filled exploitation films of the ’70’s. My advice to you is to give in. Don’t try to avoid it, don’t stay away. Pay your eleven bucks, sit back, and enjoy. This is one of the liveliest films I’ve seen in a while, and I recommend it highly.

For the last twenty five years, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar has been one of the most talked about directors in the world. His career started around 1980, and he gained international success with 1988’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It’s been over the last ten years, however, that his talent has been in full bloom. His 1997 film Live Flesh kicked off a string of masterpieces that include All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Bad Education, and now Volver. With each new film, Almodovar confirms the fact that he is one of the world’s all time great filmmakers.

There are filmmakers that will be remembered forever. Bergman, Hitchcock, Welles, Scorsese, Fassbinder, Kurosawa, Altman, the list goes on. Now you can add Alfonso Cuaron to the list. His new film Children of Men, is a masterpiece, hands down. It was easily the best film of 2006, it is the best film of the decade, and it will stand as one of the greatest motion picture experiences ever made. After seeing it in a theater, I was stunned. There hasn’t been a film released in my lifetime that had affected as much. I was afraid that my praise came too soon, I was excited, I was happy to finally see a modern movie that was truly great. I knew I had to wait until the DVD came out to properly judge the film. I received the DVD yesterday, and I am happy to see that my first instinct was right.

I’ll admit it: when I was six years old, my world revolved around the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Think about it – four overgrown turtles that are raised by a life-size rat that teaches them the way of the ninja…the possibilities are endless. I ate it up. The toys, clothes, movies, whatever – I had them all. As I have gotten older, I’ve revisited the movies and Saturday morning cartoon, and I’ve realized that this thing that I loved so much was so completely, and utterly stupid. Along comes TMNT to rub salt in the wounds.

With I, Confess, Alfred Hitchcock set out to make one film that would reflect all of his feelings about his Catholic upbringing. The film is based on a 1902 play by Paul Anthelme, and you can tell. The story was probably outdated when Hitchcock made it in 1953, and time has only added to this fact. The film itself, however, is essential for die hard Hitchcock fans, and for fans of great acting.

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much is the only film of his that he remade. The original was released in 1934 to great success, and so was the 1956 version. Some critics still prefer the original, but personally, anytime Hitch and Jimmy Stewart teamed up they churned out a classic. [...]

Over the next week or so, I’m going to be immersing myself in some of Alfred Hitchcock’s lesser known classics. I will review them as I go along, for a bit of a retrospective on a master filmmaker’s most underrated work. I decided to start with Marnie.
In 1964, Alfred Hitchcock was at [...]

The Pursuit of Happyness is the American debut of Italian director Gabriele Muccino (the original Last Kiss), and he’s proven that he’ll probably have a decent career in Hollywood, if he can continue to churn out more sugary tripe like this film. Based on a true story about a man named Chris Gardner, the [...]

It wasn’t long ago that talk of Japanese cinema was limited to the masterpieces of Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Ran), but as each decade passes the movie going public are discovering more and more the films of Kon Ichikawa ( The Burmese Harp), Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story), and Kenji Mizoguchi (Ugetsu). With [...]

How refreshing is it to see a “classic” movie that actually lives up to it’s status? Everything is right in Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder. The script by Wendell Mayes is as witty and sharp today as it was in 1959. Saul Bass’ opening credits are mesmerizing. Preminger’s direction is [...]

With every performance, Christian Bale adds to the fact that he is the worlds most interesting actor. Look at his most recent performances, The Prestige, The New World, Batman Begins, The Machinist, and this movie, all different characters, yet Bale inhabits them so completely that we believe every one. What I admire [...]

You know something is wrong with the world when Saw III has competition for the title of worst movie of the year. To be fair, I know this is a movie geared towards children and their families, but it’s still horrible. What upsets me the most about this wave of fantasy films that [...]