Off Track Despite the star power in The Hunted, there’s no thrill in this chase What happened to William Friedkin? Early in his career, he gained notoriety by directing acclaimed hits like The Boys in the Band, The French Connection and The Exorcist. But for the past several years, when he hasn’t been devoting himself … Continue reading
“In an early scene in The Life of David Gale, Kevin Spacey, as the titular philosophy professor and future death row inmate, gives an impassioned classroom lecture in front of a blackboard emblazoned with the words “Deus Ex Machina.” A term used to describe a resolution to a plot problem which is too convenient for … Continue reading
“I couldn’t stifle a giggle as I recalled the scene in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in which Austin engages in a sex-charged game of chess with Ivana Humpalott and ends up choking on his bishop…” While watching The Luzhin Defence, I couldn’t stifle a giggle as I recalled the scene in Austin … Continue reading
“A striking film noir set in the 1940’s, TMWWT is worth seeing for its incredibly lush black-and-white cinematography alone.” Oh, the ironic curse of the Coen Brothers. Arguably among today’s best filmmakers, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have together created some truly great films in the past two decades, including Blood Simple, Raising Arizona and … Continue reading
Spies Like Us Al Pacino and Collin Farrell go undercover in The Recruit Somewhere during his long and illustrious career, after The Godfather but before Scent of a Woman, Al Pacino became a parody himself. Once the king of larger-than-life yet vividly real characterizations, he now substitutes bravado for emotional truth. These days, Pacino tends … Continue reading
“A straightforward look at a man forced to assume responsibility for a lifetime of selfish actions.” At the screening of The Operator I attended, two of the film’s reels were accidentally shown out of sequence, resulting in an unintentional Memento-like effect. While the two thrillers do share certain qualities, The Operator doesn’t utilize tricky cinematic … Continue reading
Solo Effort Roman Polanski’s latest strikes a perfect chord There’s a pivotal moment in The Pianist when its protagonist, celebrated composer and pianist and real-life Holocaust survivor Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), is called upon to give a singularly crucial command performance. Discovered hiding in the parlor of an abandoned house by a Nazi soldier (Thomas … Continue reading
Recruited into the CIA by an assiduous special agent (Al Pacino), computer whiz James (Colin Farrell) proves himself a natural at the Agency’s secret training camp. There, he rises to the top of his class while falling for Layla (Bridget Moynahan), a fellow trainee. But when he’s tapped for a top secret operation to root … Continue reading
Duped Thriller about a deadly videotape is a pale copy of the original A remake of the most popular Japanese horror flick of all time, The Ring centers around a mysterious videotape that causes viewers to die precisely seven days after watching it. After exposing the tape’s contents (a hysterical mixture of surrealist imagery and … Continue reading
After unwittingly exposing herself and her loved ones to a mysterious videotape that kills viewers precisely seven days after watching it, an investigative reporter (Naomi Watts) has only a week to track down its origins and, hopefully, avert death. This occasionally frightening remake of a popular Japanese thriller begins, naturally, on a dark and stormy … Continue reading
Mike Rucker Writes 