Monthly Archives: September 2013

Billy Bob Thornton was an actor who used his distinctive voice as a screenwriter to kick-start his movie career. But as the acting jobs piled up, the Oscar winning screenwriter of “Sling Blade” and “A Family Thing” gave up writing … Continue reading →

The shootings were so random — a parking lot, at a gas station, a guy mowing grass, a baby-sitter reading a book on a bus stop bench. They happened in a spree — in Maryland, Virginia, greater Washington, D.C. — … Continue reading →

Deadline.com reports that Vin Diesel sank some of his “Fast & Furious” millions into reviving this franchise, which was Code Blue back in 2004, when “The Chronicles of Riddick” came out and tanked. So he made it and Universal (“Fast/Furious” … Continue reading →

He was a staple in one era of Spike Lee films, gained greater fame on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” and was dismissed from that show for intemperate remarks about a gay castmate and repeated bungling of how he apologized for that. … Continue reading →

The late summer swoon at the box office — no breakout hits since July, no decent opening weekend since “The Butler” — continues as Vin Diesel’s “Riddick” opened weak Thursday night and Friday and is headed for a $17-18 million … Continue reading →

“The Ultimate Life,” a sequel to 2006’s “The Ultimate Gift,” is a milder-than-mild-mannered film about priorities, personal legacies and the joys of giving. But before we can get to that very simple point, we’re treated to a lengthy, faith-based version … Continue reading →

Hiyao (or Hayao) Miyazaki was the king of the ultimate acquired taste film artform — anime. Fanciful stories told in a painterly, hand-crafted, under-animated water-color style, wide-eyed urchins and tykes, bucolic settings, Japanese settings, Japanese girls in school uniforms and … Continue reading →