HollywoodandFine.com There are so many potentially interesting elements swirling around Wally Pfister’s “Transcendence” – something old, new, borrowed and blue – that the disappointment when they don’t add up to a significant movie is acute. Written by first-timer Jack Paglen and directed by Pfister (Christopher Nolan’s go-to cinematographer), “Transcendence” trolls …
HollywoodandFine.com Maybe it’s because the studio movies at this time of year are so universally dreadful, but I find myself drawn to the smaller films that bite and snarl and generally have bad manners: “Bad Words,” “The Raid 2” and, this week, “Dom Hemingway.” Written and directed by Richard Shepard …
HollywoodandFine.com I’m a little embarrassed at how much I enjoyed “The Raid 2,” Gareth Evans’ sequel to his blistering 2011 action film, “The Raid.” So let me be exceptionally clear: “The Raid 2” may be the most graphically violent movie in recent memory – and that’s taking into account the …
HollywoodandFine.com So is “Divergent” the new “Hunger Games”? Or “Twilight”? Or even “Harry Potter”? Probably not. Not because it’s bad but because it’s not bad … but not great either. It’s middling, as so many movies based on the first book of a series tend to be. “Divergent” is derived …
HollywoodandFine.com OK. I’ll admit it: My favorite film this week is also the most transgressive. It’s full of vicious one-liners that are guaranteed to offend, well, the easily offended. Jason Bateman makes his directing debut with “Bad Words,” the rudest comedy about an adult dealing with kids since “Bad Santa.” …
HollywoodandFine.com How do I love the work of Wes Anderson? Let me count the ways. Anderson may be the most consistently original filmmaker to emerge during the 25 years I’ve been writing about film in New York. He has a distinctive style that only gets deeper as he matures – …
HollywoodandFine.com If you crossed a disaster film from the 1970s with a low-budget action-thriller from the last five years, you’d get something that looks like “Non-Stop.” It’s no wonder that Liam Neeson looked so chagrined to talk about it on “60 Minutes” this past Sunday. But as he noted, they’re …
HollywoodandFine.com It took me two tries to see “The Lunchbox” (the first time was at a film festival screening that was cancelled for technical reasons) – but it was more than worth the effort. Ritesh Batra’s moving, subtly witty and perceptive film, opening Friday in limited release, is a showcase …
HollywoodandFine.com Love and murder – are there more crucial or basic ingredients for a good story? It’s like cooking and starting with chicken or beef stock: They are the building blocks from which the best recipes are constructed. Charlie Stratton’s “In Secret” is based on Emile Zola’s “Therese Raquin” – …
HollywoodandFine.com Who is the traitor? That question of loyalty, deception and betrayal haunts the Oscar-nominated film “Omar” by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, whose dark, weirdly funny “Paradise Now” was also an Oscar nominee. This thriller is about more than the sum of its parts. Adam Bakri is Omar, a young …