The Way, Way Back The Way, Way Back is nothing you haven’t seen before: a coming-of-age drama set at a beach resort during summer vacation. However, it is rare that these somewhat overdone plot points are done as smartly and confidently as done here by co-writers/co-directors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, who shared the Best … Continue reading
Liv Ullmann The Legendary Swedish Actress Recalls Life with Ingmar Bergman in Film and in Person by Brad Balfour One of the many things a benchmark film festival like the New York Film Festival can do is anoint a new documentary with the stamp of importance just by inclusion in the fest. Such is the … Continue reading
2 Guns Remember when action film plots had to make some sense? It seems a long time ago, I know, but once upon a time little things like story coherence and plot believability mattered. Writers and directors knew when things would not pass the smell test and tried to limit the unlikely or ridiculous story … Continue reading
Paranoia We all know that the business world has become a cutthroat, dog-eat-dog, morals-free zone. Paranoia is basically about a high-tech, high stakes pissing match between two multi-millionaire telecom CEOs. Jack Goddard (Harrison Ford) and Nicolas Wyatt (Gary Oldman) had started out in the business together – Goddard was the face and personality of the … Continue reading
Ben Barnes The Actor Fights The Supernatural In Seventh Son and Discusses Narnia, the Craft Of Acting, and How He’d Love To Work With J.J. Abrams by Arlene R. Weiss British actor Ben Barnes is most well known for his work so indelibly and wonderfully portraying the dashing, heroic Caspian X in the second and third films … Continue reading
The World’s End British comic actors/writers Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and their director/co-writer Edgar Wright, have taken on a very specific place in the movie world. They make very funny movies based upon beloved film genres. Shaun of the Dead took on zombie films. Hot Fuzz played off of action adventure films. Paul was … Continue reading
Simon Pegg & Nick Frost – Hoisting Some Pints at The World’s End by Jay S. Jacobs British comic actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have made a pretty impressive career creating what Frost once described to me as “love letters to the genre.” Together the two have worked on several projects together (mostly with … Continue reading
THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADÈLE BLANC-SEC (2010) Starring Louise Bourgoin, Mathieu Amalric, Gilles Lellouche, Jean-Paul Rouve, Jacky Nercessian, Philippe Nahon, Nicolas Giraud, Laure de Clermont, Gérard Chaillou, Serge Bagdassarian and Claire Pérot. Screenplay by Luc Besson. Directed by Luc Besson. Distributed by Shout! Factory. 107 minutes. Rated PG. The box of this French film has … Continue reading
I Give It a Year The “I give it a year” in the title was a prediction of the bride’s sister during the wedding that opens this British romantic comedy – which is neither romantic nor particularly funny. At the time, since we are just meeting the couple, this statement feels a little bit harsh. … Continue reading
The Conjuring I have to admit, horror films about mad slashers or zombies shambling in search of live flesh or even sexy brooding vampires tend to leave me a bit cold. Respect the craft, enjoy the stories (sometimes) but it rarely really scares me. However, a well-done ghost story will send chills up and down … Continue reading
