James Gandolfini
Blu-ray Review: John Magaro Shines in Nostalgic ‘Not Fade Away’
Submitted by mattmovieman on May 1, 2013 - 8:48am.CHICAGO – David Chase, the man who seduced audiences with HBO’s “The Sopranos” before leaving them hanging in one of the most brilliantly audacious finales in TV history, is certainly not a fan of tidy endings. He understands that suggestion and implication can be infinitely more powerful than closure, and he beautifully applies this principle to his feature directorial debut, “Not Fade Away.”
Blu-ray Review: Talented People Falter in ‘Killing Them Softly’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 11, 2013 - 2:59pm.CHICAGO – Andrew Dominik delivered one of the best movies of the ’00s the last time he worked with Brad Pitt when the two made “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” And so there was intense anticipation for their follow-up collaboration, “Killing Them Softly,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD. Call it a sophomore slump but “KTS” is a film with tons of style and some interesting ideas that nonetheless feels like a dirge and plays like a film twice as long as its running time.
DVD Review: Kathryn Bigelow’s Incredible ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Deserves More
Submitted by BrianTT on March 30, 2013 - 6:41pm.CHICAGO – At one point in awards season, right after it won five Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, including Best Picture, Actress, Screenplay, and Director, it really looked like Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” was going to be the most award-winning film of 2012. When all was said and done, it only won a single Oscar for Sound Editing and Bigelow wasn’t even nominated.
Film Review: Nothing Magical About ‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 15, 2013 - 8:57am.CHICAGO – It’s this simple – “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” just isn’t funny. Sure, there are a few laughs here and there and some of the supporting cast works but the leads are woefully miscast and most of the jokes hit with all the awkward silence of a Bennigan’s tableside magician who guesses the wrong card.
Film Review: Jingoistic ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Highlights the Mission
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 2, 2013 - 10:50am.CHICAGO – Despite an obsession for killing a single man to represent a foggy revenge, “Zero Dark Thirty” is an effective thriller in the actual re-creation of that Navy Seal operation. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”), the all-star cast is led by a miscast Jessica Chastain.
Film Review: ‘Not Fade Away’ is a Slice of Rock ‘n Roll Heaven
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 28, 2012 - 8:30am.CHICAGO – It seems impossible today to get a sense of what it was like around 1964, when rock music changed forever with the “British Invasion” of The Beatles. But writer/director David Chase (“The Sopranos”) brings that distinct energy back with the nostalgic and incendiary “Not Fade Away.”
Interview: ‘The Sopranos’ Creator David Chase on ‘Not Fade Away’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 26, 2012 - 10:32am.CHICAGO – It was one of the most famous endings in TV history. Tony Soprano, the patriarch of “The Sopranos,” waiting at a restaurant for his family while “Don’t Stop Believin’” was blaring on the soundtrack. It is that rock sensibility that permeates “Not Fade Away,” the new film by the creator of “The Sopranos,” David Chase.
Film Review: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Turns CIA Procedural Into Riveting Thriller
Submitted by BrianTT on December 10, 2012 - 10:29am.CHICAGO – Kathryn Bigelow opens her stunning “Zero Dark Thirty” with a date and a series of voice mail recordings. The date is, of course, September 11, 2001 and the recordings are the ghosts of the people who died that day, perfectly setting the stakes for the story to come – the hunt for and capture of Osama Bin Laden.
Film Review: Metaphor is Message in Violent ‘Killing Them Softly’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 30, 2012 - 12:53pm.CHICAGO – If there ever was an industry that deserved a good metaphor bashing, it would be the financial sector. “Killing Them Softly” does a hit-over-the-head with the symbolism, but at the same time delivers a gritty and literate parable, featuring Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta.
Blu-ray Review: Diane Lane, James Gandolfini Shine in ‘Cinema Verite’
Submitted by mattmovieman on April 26, 2012 - 5:49am.CHICAGO – HBO’s under-appreciated original movie recalls the moment when entertainment-seeking Americans averted their eyes from actors to their neighbors over the fence. Voyeurism had a new name, “cinema verite,” and one-time producer Craig Gilbert was determined to take it from art houses to small screens in homes across the country.
