“The Dark Knight Rises” debuts more new character posters
Has the Sacha Baron Cohen shtick jumped the shark?
Tim Grierson on Will Smith, the Last Movie Star
Exclusive download: Corporal, featuring Michael Shannon, presents “Glory”
When recalling inspirations for his new action thriller “The Samaritan,” director David Weaver sites such classics as “The Crying Game” and “The Grifters.” The comparisons seem apt as Samuel L. Jackson plays an recent ex-con whose past begins to catch up with him while attempting to play the straight and narrow with a new-found love.…
Bruce Willis aside, there probably isn’t another pure “action” star these days than Jason Statham. From “Crank” to “The Transporter” and a million films in-between, the actor has become a first-class pleasure to watch as he pummels his way through triads, the mafia, foreign armies and anything else you can think of. That’s precisely the…
Richard Linklater has gained a devoted following thanks to films like “Before Sunrise,” “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly.” For his new project, “Bernie,” he reteams with his “School of Rock” star Jack Black for a dark comedy about a mortician who befriends a cranky, wealthy widow (Shirley MacLaine). When she dies (not considered a…
One of the most fiercely original films to come along in recent memory, “The Cabin in the Woods” derives from the combined minds of Joss Whedon (“The Avengers,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and director Drew Goddard (“Cloverfield”). Part horror, part sci-fi and part comedy, the film straddles multiple genres, infusing each with such creativity and…
Director Mary Herron is no stranger to psychological thrillers; one viewing of her seminal ’90s classic “American Psycho” can tell you that. So it’s no surprise that for her new film “The Moth Diaries,” she’s taking audiences inside the rigid American institution known as the boarding school. More specifically, Herron takes on the bond between…
Stephen Dorff is known as being a versatile actor, but his latest film “Brake” must have pushed the limits. In the picture, Dorff plays a Secret Service agent who awakens to a captivity within a plexiglass coffin inside the trunk of a car, at the mercy of terrorists who are demanding information for a sinister…
Director Tony Kaye turned heads with his violent breakthrough “American History X” (and courted controversy when he washed his hands of it in response to reported editing room meddling by Edward Norton). Now after a decade plus break from Hollywood, he’s returned with “Detachment,” a powerful look at the foot soldiers in the war of…
In “Bending the Rules,” Adam Copeland — better known as WWE Superstar “Edge” — plays a New Orleans cop on trial for corruption. When he inadvertently stumbles into a criminal plot, he’s forced to team up with a hard-charging prosecutor (Jamie Kennedy) who’s out to put him in jail. As you’d expect from a WWE…
On the heels of the critically-acclaimed “Animal Kingdom” comes another gritty crime drama out of Australia. “The Snowtown Murders” spins the true tale of a group of serial killers who are now steeped in national lore. With a whopping 11 murders under their belt, what made this case so notorious was the circumstances of those…
Best known for big studio comedies like “American Pie” and “Little Fockers,” director Paul Weitz is going indie with his new feature “Being Flynn,” an adaptation of the book “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City.” Starring Robert De Niro and Paul Dano, the pic spins the tale of a young man (Dano) who encounters his…
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that “Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie” is just as absurd as the rest of their trademark comedy; after all, the pair traffic in WTF-brand humor. And that’s precisely what we get with the duo’s first feature film, where two guys (natch) get a billion dollars to make…
Indie flick “Boy” has been racking up awards throughout European film festivals, and now it’s hitting American shores. The New Zealand gem centers on a Michael Jackson-obsessed 11-year-old boy in a remote town, fantasizing about when his deadbeat father returns. When that happens, it’s not exactly like Boy predicted or hoped for. To get a…
Director Joshua Marston broke through with his 2004 critical hit “Maria Full of Grace.” Now he returns with yet another tragic look at an underdog character with “The Forgiveness of Blood.” The film follows a family in Albania and their culture’s little-known tradition of “blood feuds.” After a conflict with a neighbor leads to murder,…
It took over four years of filming across the globe, but “Act of Valor” is now upon us. The film, from the directing pair of Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, is intensely original, notably because its main cast is comprised entirely of active-duty Navy SEALs. As such, it could possibly be the most authentic action…
“The Way” isn’t the first time Emilio Estevez and his father Martin Sheen have worked together, but it may be the most personal. The film, which Estevez adapted into a screenplay and directed at his dad’s request, finds Sheen traveling to Spain to reclaim his son’s ashes. While there, he decides to embark on the…
The trailer for “Bullhead,” the Belgian pic nominated for a Best Foreign Film statue, is as dark and shadowy as its subject matter. That’s precisely why we were thrilled to get its writer and director Michaël R. Roskam to record a commentary for it. The movie follows a young cattle farmer named Jacky (Matthias Schoenaerts)…
After years of rumors about a new “Ghost Rider” film, that day is finally upon us as “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” roars into theaters this Friday. For this outing we find Nicolas Cage shuffling off to Eastern Europe in order to stop the devil’s plans for world domination. As suspected there’s a lot of…
If there’s one thing “Rampart” tells us, it’s do not crash into Woody Harrelson’s cop car. If that happens, he will beat you. That’s precisely what happens in Oren Moverman’s gripping police drama, where a videotaped incident turns into downwardly cascading chain of events for the rogue officer. It’s being hailed as a breakthrough performance…
Daniel Radcliffe certainly needs no introduction, but his new thriller — his first role since ending the “Potter” franchise — probably does. “The Woman in Black” follows a young assistant for a law firm (Radcliffe) who is dispatched to a remote town to wind down the paperwork for a recently deceased woman. While there, he…
Ti West broke into the horror scene in a big way with 2009′s “The House of the Devil.” Since then he’s kept genre fans coming back for more with “Cabin Fever 2,” IFC’s “Dead & Lonely” web series and the upcoming Sundance fave “V/H/S.” His latest film, however, is “The Innkeepers,” a good, old-fashioned ghost…
For a film that’s already making waves at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, little is known about “Filly Brown.” That’s sure to change, but for now we’ve got an early peek at this music-flavored indie. The film follows a young woman named Maria Jose ‘Majo’ Tonorio (played by Gina Rodriguez), a hard-charging Mexican-American street poet…
You may know him as Kyle Reese, the father of mankind’s savior in “The Terminator.” Or maybe you prefer his bad-ass Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in James Cameron’s “Aliens.” Or maybe Michael Bay’s “The Rock.” As one of the most beloved cult actors working today, Michael Biehn has assembled an army of followers with his gritty,…
Ed Burns has made a career of realistically spotlighting the concept of family and marriage, and his new picture “Newlyweds” continues that tradition. Shot for a reputed $9,000 around his native Tribeca, the movie follows one couple Buzzy and Kate, whose happy existence is interrupted by the arrival of his half-sister (who proceeds to move…
Many of you will know Peter Facinelli as the friendly head of the Cullen household in the “Twilight” films, but I know Peter from my favorite film “Can’t Hardly Wait.” The affable star has now brought his talents to “Loosies,” an independent film that marks the feature screenwriting debut for the veteran actor. In the…
Dane Cook may be regarded as a funnyman away from the cameras, but when he’s on a movie set it’s often all business. From “Mr. Brooks” to “Dan in Real Life,” the comedian has taken strides to become a dramatic player, and his latest project is no different. “Answers to Nothing” follows a group of…
