HollywoodandFine.com At the point when it actually starts to rain blood near the end of the remake of “Evil Dead,” you would think that things couldn’t get any gorier. And of course you’d be wrong. You’ve got to say this for filmmaker Fede Alvarez: He knows how to bring the …
HollywoodandFine.com There aren’t many filmmakers creating the kind of chewy, talkative dramas about real issues that used to be a staple of movie-going because, well, the audience willing to sit still for them is aging out and dying off. So bless Robert Redford: While “The Company You Keep” can’t sustain …
HollywoodandFine.com Neither terrible nor revelatory, Ramaa Mosley’s “The Brass Teapot” is the kind of movie you might stumble across on cable and stick with, if only because, well, you’ve got nothing better to do. Like W.W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw,” “The Brass Teapot” is a slight tale with a dark …
HollywoodandFine.com I will admit that, when it screened at the New York Film Festival a few years ago, I walked out of Antonio Campos’ “Afterschool” after about 30 minutes. And it colored my willingness to see his newest film, “Simon Killer,” opening Friday in limited release. But “Simon Killer” surprised …
HollywoodandFine.com People often debate situational ethics: Under what circumstances would an unethical act be ethical? Always an intriguing question. But what about situational movie standards? We’re talking about whether there’s ever a time when a bad movie should be given a pass because, well, it’s not as bad as it …
HollywoodandFine.com Andrew Niccol’s film of “The Host” starts so well that, when it suddenly slows to a crawl 20 minutes later, your impulse is to give it some slack – to let it find its feet and get back on track. Unfortunately, it never does. So what you end up …
HollywoodandFine.com A couple of weeks ago, someone I know, after scanning the movie listings of a Friday newspaper (and really, I’m dating that person just by identifying them as an actual newspaper reader), asked me, “When will we get some good movies?” Without missing a beat, I said, “Maybe October.” …
HollywoodandFine.com Derek Cianfrance’s “The Place Beyond the Pines” is a sure-handed effort from a director who proved himself capable of dramatizing difficult human emotions in “Blue Valentine.” “Pines,” opening Friday (3/29/13) in limited release, is perhaps the most linear film of the year. It deals with an overarching theme, even …
HollywoodandFine.com There are movies about movies. And then there are meta-movies like “Room 237,” opening in limited released Friday (3/29/13). Think of it as the movie-buff’s equivalent of the “Paul McCartney is dead” rumor that swept the world in 1969. People who should have known better came to the conclusion …
HollywoodandFine.com A second-rate “Die Hard” knock-off with Gerard Butler playing the Bruce Willis role, “Olympus Has Fallen” is preposterously overblown, an action movie that seems to prove the old saying: If brains were gunpowder, this movie wouldn’t have enough to blow its own nose. Directed by Antoine Fuqua – who …