We’re not even a year removed from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and already Sony and Marvel are exploring new options on who could be the next webslinger. And we already have some insight that the next Spider-Man is going back to high school, and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) and Logan Lerman (Fury) are on …
Wonder Boys Directed by Curtis Hanson Written by Steven Kloves from a novel by Michael Chabon USA, 2000 The written word is an art form that is almost as old as mankind itself. To form sentences which eventually comprise paragraphs and so on to create beauty and evoke powerful emotion in readers is a skill …
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner Directed by Marc Webb USA, 2014 The distinct whiff of chaos pervades The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from its first scene, both narratively and visually. Because its director and writers aren’t likely intending on this sequel to a reboot to feel persistently, unavoidably …
Labor Day Written and directed by Jason Reitman USA, 2013 It’s all too fitting that, at one point midway through Labor Day, two of the lead characters are sitting in front of a TV, watching a network broadcast of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This film’s writer-director, Jason Reitman, no …
[callout] Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is an aspiring stock broker in 1920s New York. Living on the outskirts of town, he re-establishes a friendship with his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan), and her husband, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). Nick also befriends golfer Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki), who is pressured by Daisy to begin a romance with …
Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming take on the classic American novel “The Great Gatsby” is quite possibly one of the most anticipated films of 2013. The film features an impressive soundtrack with a number of big names including Lana Del Rey and Beyonce but most importantly The Great Gatsby has a great cast. As we count down to …
The Details Directed by Jacob Aaron Estes Written by Jacob Aaron Estes USA, 2011 Tobey Maguire exists in a kind of netherworld as a performer. When he played Peter Parker in the original Spider-Man trilogy, he was often criticized for looking too old to play a high school senior or, later, a college freshman. (This, …
The Amazing Spider-Man Directed by Marc Webb Written by James Vanderbilt and Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves USA, 2012 Here’s a fun game: clear your mind of all memories associated with seeing the Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi. How quickly can you do it? Having some trouble wrapping your head around the concept? Who …
Warning: spoilers for The Adjustment Bureau (and all the other films discussed) follow. The Adjustment Bureau may have been marketed with the line ‘Bourne meets Inception’ (which it attributes to Total Film, though I can’t find this line in Jonathan Crocker’s review) but it’s a softer, sweeter film than that comparison suggests. And although it …
Deadline is reporting on the increasing likelihood that The Great Gatsby, based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, will be Baz Luhrman’s next film. According to reports, Luhrmann did a workshop of the screenplay with Leonardo DiCaprio reading Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire reading Nick Carraway and Rebecca Hall (The Town) reading Daisy Buchanan. Apparently Luhrmann …
Workmanlike and inoffensive, Brothers will neither devastate nor severely disappoint. Brothers Directed by Jim Sheridan The latest in a long line of Sheridan dramas oriented around family units, Brothers, adapted from the 2004 Danish feature of the same name, is competently constructed and generally well-performed, but hovers just above mediocrity throughout the proceedings. Perhaps in …
15- Donnie Barksdale in The Gift Actor: Keanu Reeves Memorable quote: “Messing with the Devil is gonna get you burned. Everybody knows that.” Say what you will about Keanu Reeves, but given the right project, proper casting, and competent direction, the man can do a decent job. He is far from outstanding in The Gift, …