Helen Mirren
‘Hitchcock’ at its Heart is a Relationship Film
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 21, 2012 - 6:01pm.![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The great director Alfred Hitchcock had morphed to legend rather than a man, so it’s interesting that two films have recently been released about his all-too-human foibles. The feature film, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as the director, gets inside the man’s relationships in “Hitchcock.”
Performance of Exemplary Cast Collects on ‘The Debt’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 31, 2011 - 5:54am.![]() Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Re-imagining, almost re-engaging the evil of the Holocaust has been thoroughly examined in film for years. “The Debt” looks at another angle, that of revenge and how much that revenge can wreak havoc on the truth.
‘Brighton Rock’ Remake Fails to Justify its Existence
Submitted by BrianTT on August 26, 2011 - 2:56pm.![]() Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Rowan Joffe’s long-gestating remake of “Brighton Rock” (the 1947 noir classic was based on the beloved book by Graham Greene) raises the question least-desired in one of these situations – why bother? Sure, the story is a nifty little tale of a rising criminal undone by his own avarice and the love of a girl and the cast assembled for the remake is an undeniably talented ensemble.
Russell Brand Tries Too Hard in Lame ‘Arthur’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 8, 2011 - 6:49am.![]() Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There are many problems inherent in film remakes, starting with comparisons to the original source. The first “Arthur,” while not a classic, did have a warm, funny story and Dudley Moore’s title performance. The current remake has none of that.
Talented Ensemble Wasted on Incredibly Dull ‘Red’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 15, 2010 - 8:51am.![]() Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – They say you can learn as much from a bad movie as you can from a good one. If that’s true, what’s the lesson to be taken from the extremely boring and misguided “Red”? Perhaps that moviemaking is not the sum of its parts and that you can’t just get together an amazing cast, shout action, and expect magic.
Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck Bring Spark to Mediocre ‘State of Play’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 17, 2009 - 12:21am.![]() Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I’ll be the first critic to tell you that they don’t make adult thrillers often enough. I was very disappointed by the lackluster box office take of Tony Gilroy’s ” Duplicity”. But does that mean that we should give all intellectual mysteries a pass? Of course not. And while I want to love Kevin Macdonald’s “State of Play,” a few poor decisions during production keep it back from being the excellent film it could have been.






