Last year Warner Bros. Pictures tried to launch a new spy franchise with the release of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The movie, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander and Armie Hammer, has the three of them trotting around Italy trying to keep a nuclear device out of the hands of a … Continue reading Movies On the Brain: The Man From U.N.C.L.E
Must Love Dogs – Marketing Recap
John Cusack needs to get out of whatever artistic funk he's been in since about High Fidelity. There was a brief moment of hope after I watched Max but other than that it's been a steady stream of studio flicks that have done nothing to stretch him creatively or live up to the promise of … Continue reading Must Love Dogs – Marketing Recap
Movies on the Brain: The Day After Tomorrow
WATCHED: 10/19/2004 I had reviewed the campaign for this one in my Movie Marketing Madness column at FilmThreat and now get to trash the actual movie. Who says life doesn't have it's perks? 0:00 - There are certain studio logos that will always be associated with specific movies for me. The 20th Century Fox opening … Continue reading Movies on the Brain: The Day After Tomorrow
Chronicling Hidalgo
WATCHED: 8/5/2004 00:00 - Nice forest. I think I see Richard Dreyfuss and Audrey Hepburn discussing how to get rid of Brad Johnson in the background. 00:01 - C. Thomas Howell! His career really did peak at Soul Man, didn't it. "Mom! Dad! There's something I have to tell you... I'm black. " 00:04 - … Continue reading Chronicling Hidalgo
Chronicling Master and Commander
Pretty good movie. Interestingly, the most epic-feeling portions of it occurred in the smaller, more character driven moments. Crowe had a few scenes that actually had him acting, which is a plus. I also liked the fact that until the French ship was boarded, we never saw their faces. Nice touch that added to the … Continue reading Chronicling Master and Commander
Chronicling Timeline
I read the Michael Crichton book this is based on a few years ago and was pretty intrigued when I heard it was being made into a movie. That anticipation was built up when I heard Richard Donner was directing. That anticipation was then smashed unrelentingly like waves against rocks when I heard Paul Walker … Continue reading Chronicling Timeline
Chronicling Mona Lisa Smile
There’s no way I wanted to see this. My wife said it was really good, and it does have Kirsten Dunst and Julia Stiles going for it, but all in all I was just not looking forward to it. via MOVIES ON THE BRAIN: “MONA LISA SMILE” – Film Threat
Chronicling Matchstick Men
I have to admit to liking Nicolas Cage as an actor. It may be un-cool now, but he still interests me. Plus when a director known for epics like Ridley Scott takes on a small, character driven piece, it turns out to be much better than it had any right to be nine out of … Continue reading Chronicling Matchstick Men
Chronicling In The Cut
This is one of those movies I wasn’t sure I wanted to see. It looked interesting enough, but there was never a full commitment to it in my mind. The ultimate deciding factors were my enjoyment of Mark Ruffalo’s performance in XX/XY and the opportunity to see just oodles of Meg Ryan’s body. via MOVIES … Continue reading Chronicling In The Cut
Chronicling Runaway Jury
John Cusack is one of my favorite actors and he’s a big reason why I wanted to see this one. I’ve never seen a performance by him that I didn’t enjoy, even in America’s Sweethearts. I read the book a number of years ago and know the plot has been changed to be a jury … Continue reading Chronicling Runaway Jury
Chris Thilk 