Monthly Archives: August 2013

And thus does a summer that started with a silly car chase picture end with a sillier one. “Getaway” has some of the elements of a good gear grinder — a B-movie where a car takes a pivotal role in … Continue reading →

Naomi Watts, Stupor Mondi, to you Latin speakers, is in a couple of the most controversial films of the fall. The first is “Adore,” based on a Doris Lessing novella about two lifelong pals (Robin Wright is the other) and … Continue reading →

It’s a favorite gripe of mine — movies that all are set in or look to have been shot in greater Los Angeles. As if corrupt cops, cute couples, daring detectives, adorable dogs or whatever genre, plotline or situation is … Continue reading →

Variety is reporting that NBC is going after Tina Fey, who is in between TV projects and not really established in the movies, and Amy Poehler, still an NBC star, to host the next Golden Globes. They did a bang … Continue reading →

The best James Brown impersonation of 2013 was Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s single scene riff in “The Butler,” the Oscar winning musician’s son pulling off a little turn, a little shout, a serious suggestion of The Godfather of Soul. Gooding could … Continue reading →

You could be forgiven for rolling your eyes last summer at the news that last summer’s flashy pre-fab pop phenomenon One Direction would be releasing a concert documentary this summer. Forgiven by everyone save their fans, who might pout for … Continue reading →

“Passion” is Brian DePalma’s teasing, overripe remake of the forgettable French thriller “Love Crime.”  With its broadly drawn characters, erotic hints of homo-and-heterosexual betrayal and lethal corporate intrigues, it’s a competent take on material that may have seemed more current … Continue reading →

A terrorist attack, a murderous cover-up, a highly publicized trial and two lawyers — former lovers — forced to stay apart during the proceedings, “Closed Circuit” has all the makings for an incendiary thriller. But this paranoid, cynical tale of … Continue reading →

Julie Harris collected six Tonys and more than a few movie anecdotes over the course of her long, storied career. She acted opposite James Dean in “East of Eden,” and told great stories about what a camera hog and fussbudget … Continue reading →