Leelee Sobieski

Blu-Ray Review: Odd ‘Night Train’ With Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski

BrianTT — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:37:17 -0600

CHICAGO – M. Brian King’s “Night Train,” starring Danny Glover, Steve Zahn, and Leelee Sobieski and now available on Blu-Ray and DVD, is one of the most anthology-esque films I’ve ever seen. It feels like an extended, unaired episode of a syndicated anthology show like “The Outer Limits” (remake, not original) or “Friday the 13th”. You’ll notice I didn’t compare it to “The Twilight Zone” or even “Amazing Stories”. It’s not that good.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

“Night Train” is a B-movie in every way, from the “what if” set-up right down to the awful CGI shots of the exterior of the train (a baffling decision that deflates any attempt at realism of the piece every few minutes). It’s a 91-minute feature that could have crammed the same plot into a 44-minute TV episode (and probably ended up more effective from the editing).

Night Train was released on Blu-Ray on July 7th, 2009.
Photo credit: E1/NEM

The opening act of “Night Train” is a promising one. A conductor and two passengers on an overnight train find themselves in an unusual, life-changing predicament. A man has just died in the rear car that the two passengers (Steve Zahn & Leelee Sobieski) share. The conductor (Danny Glover) and his two passengers discover a mysterious box among his possessions and they see something remarkable in it that they want to keep for themselves.

What length would you go to for unimaginable wealth? And would you be willing to share it with two complete strangers? There’s enough dramatic material there for an interesting thriller and I liked the set-up of “Night Train,” but when King tries to get deep, his project goes off the track. It turns out that the box is supernatural. Why? Why not just make a thriller? Instead, King has to take it a step further, as if his film is trying to say something about the evil desires of all mankind. It doesn’t work and the long second and third act feel padded out to meet a running time that the filmmaker can’t quite justify.

The Blu-Ray release of “Night Train” looks good-not-great in 1080i with a widescreen presentation. It’s hard to say if it’s the cinematography or the transfer, but “Night Train” looks surprisingly “fake” and I wonder if less polish wouldn’t have improved the film. The train doesn’t feel lived in and the characters look too crisp and clean, always looking more like actors than actual people.

Special features on “Night Train” include an interesting behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of the film, interviews, a photo gallery, and the trailer.

I’ve always been a supporter of independent, unheralded thrillers. It’s the reason I wanted to check out “Night Train” in the first place. No one’s more disappointed that this train doesn’t make it to the station on time.

‘Night Train’ is released by National Entertainment Media and stars Danny Glover, Leelee Sobieski, and Steve Zahn. It was written and directed by M. Brian King. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on July 7th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Johnny Depp’s ‘Public Enemies’ Delivers Bona Fide Chicago Powerhouse

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:53:26 -0600

CHICAGO – Was John Dillinger an Adolf Hitler-level criminal mastermind or a modern-day Robin Hood superman? In the authentic reality portrayed by the god-like Johnny Depp in the Chicago-filmed “Public Enemies,” he’s a little bit of both for blockbuster filmmaker Michael Mann.

Unfortunately, Depp’s nemesis – special agent Melvin Purvis as played by “The Dark Knight” mainstay Christian Bale – falls flat. Bale rolls through the motions with a monotone and monotonous role that needed the tension of a World War conflict rather than a rubber band.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The French actress Marion Cotillard, on the other hand, delivers yet another intoxicating performance as Billie Frechette this time in a supporting role. We’re reminded why she ever-so-definitely deserved her 2008 Oscar for so absolutely embodying Edith Piaf in 2007’s “La Vie en Rose”.

Leelee Sobieski is thrown in toward the end as the downplayed character Polly Hamilton in a relatively wasted and unnecessary cameo. In addition, Matt Craven – who you’ve almost certainly never heard of, has no relation to Wes Craven and looks strikingly like Sean Penn – is merely being mentioned in this review for the three aforementioned points of comedy.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Public Enemies” in our reviews section.

Giovanni Ribisi from “My Name is Earl,” “Friends” and the underrated film “Heaven” (that too many people haven’t seen but should rent tomorrow) methodically portrays Alvin “Creepy” Karpis. While John Dillinger was public enemy No. 1 for the FBI, Karpis was the final public enemy to be nailed.

Karpis’ capture catapulted FBI director J. Edgar Hoover – portrayed with spot-on calculation by Billy Crudup of “Watchmen” and “Almost Famous” fame – and the FBI to national eminence. In the “Public Enemies” period piece, J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI both have a tall task: proving to the American government and people that they should exist and are competent crime stoppers.

“Public Enemies” from director Michael Mann stars Johnny Depp, Christain Bale, Marion Cotillard, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, James Russo, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Graham, Bill Camp, Chandler Williams, Branka Katic, Jason Clarke, Christian Stolte and David Wenham. The film, which was released nationwide on July 1, 2009, is rated “R” for gangster violence and some language with a 140-minute running time.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Public Enemies” review.

Christian Bale stars as special agent Melvin Purvis – the nemesis of the legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger – in “Public Enemies” from filmmaker Michael Mann.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Public Enemies” review.

Slideshow: 36-Image Gallery For ‘Public Enemies’ With Johnny Depp, Christian Bale

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:38:45 -0600

CHICAGO – Just a day after the red-carpet Chicago premiere of the Chicago-filmed “Public Enemies,” Universal Pictures has released to us 36 high-resolution production stills from the highly anticipated film. “Public Enemies” stars Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieski, Billy Crudup, Emilie de Ravin, Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Dorff from director Michael Mann (“Miami Vice,” “Collateral,” “Ali,” “Heat” and “The Last of the Mohicans”).

You can either click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photo credits for this slideshow go to Peter Mountain and Universal Studios.

The “Public Enemies” synopsis can be found below (source):

In the action-thriller “Public Enemies,” acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard in the incredible and true story of legendary Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger (Depp).

Dillinger is the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the No. 1 target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public. No one could stop Dillinger. No jail could hold him.

His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone from his girlfriend, Billie Frechette (Cotillard), to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.

But while the adventures of Dillinger’s gang (later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson [Stephen Graham]) thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw’s capture as a way to elevate the FBI his bureau of investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America’s first public enemy No. 1 and sent in Purvis (the dashing “Clark Gable of the FBI”).

However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) who were real gunfighters and orchestrating epic betrayals from the infamous “Lady in Red” to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti were Purvis and the FBI able to close in on Dillinger.

See our 12-image “Public Enemies” slideshow at the Biograph in Chicago.
Video: Watch the “Public Enemies” trailer now!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Video: ‘Public Enemies’ Trailer With Johnny Depp, Christian Bale

BrianTT — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:07:11 -0600

CHICAGO – One of our most highly anticipated films of 2009 has to be Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” and we just had to share one of the best movie trailers in a long time. The film, a lot of which was shot in Chicago, stars Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Emilie de Ravin, and Lili Taylor. The film opens on July 1st, 2009. Not soon enough.

Synopsis:

“In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp) — the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public.

No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone — from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.

But while the adventures of Dillinger’s gang — later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi) — thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw’s capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America’s first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing “Clark Gable of the FBI.”

However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals — from the infamous “Lady in Red” to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti — were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.”

See our 36-image “Public Enemies” slideshow with high-quality stills.
See our 12-image “Public Enemies” slideshow at the Biograph in Chicago.
Watch more HollywoodChicago.com-hosted A&E videos.
Watch more movie videos on HollywoodChicago.com hosted elsewhere.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com