My dream for this weekend is that I run into some player in a first rate Thriller costume and I, in “Beverly Hills Cop” guise, will give him my best Eddie Murphy chuckle, wherein everyone nearby experiences a brilliant shared cultural moment that kicks off the best time of their lives. Barring that, I may […]
This week saw the, er, proud return of Troy Duffy, writer/director of 1999’s Boston-set cult favorite “The Boondock Saints,” about the stylish side of vigilante violence, and its new sequel “Boondock Saints II,” which arrives in theaters today. Duffy’s also the resentful subject of 2003’s “Overnight,” a fascinating 2003 documentary-as-showbiz-cautionary-tale that showcases how he’s not […]
The Bible says that Satan “masquerades as an angel of light. In popular culture, we tend to think of him as a big red dude with horns and a pitchfork, or as a talking snake, or as Al Pacino in an Armani suit. The devil, in other words, comes in many different forms. And his […]
Few movies are as incomplete yet overwhelmingly influential as Fritz Lang’s 1927 “Metropolis.” Any movie you’ve seen with enormous, gigantic architecture set in an ominous future or a mythical past — “Brazil,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “The Fifth Element,” even this year’s “The International” — stole some of its moves from Lang’s skyscrapers and underground dens. […]
In the pre-YouTube era, it was generally assumed that a short film was a director’s calling card, a stepping stone to prove that talent and resourcefulness lay within and that great things could be obtained with a real budget. These days more people seem to be interested in watching YouTube videos than committing to a […]
I had a Spanish roommate around the turn of the century when Penelope Cruz was blossoming into a huge star who could not believe what a sucker I was for her. He would stand shirtless in the kitchen over a pungent pot of puttanesca and tell me that she was a terrible actor, that she […]
There are really two reasons why you’d recognize the name of writer/director Troy Duffy. One, you’re a member of the energized fan base who can recite every line of his 1999 debut, “The Boondock Saints.” A John Woo-styled crime thriller that first trickled out in a perfunctory release, Duffy’s blood-soaked tale of Irish Catholic twins […]
Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (which is, yes, fantastic) begins its platform release domestically two Fridays from now, but it’s already out in the UK — complete with a “Fantastic Mr. Fox Happy Meal” — and the publicity mill is already grinding. One of the cooler interviews Anderson’s done is with French director Arnaud Desplechin […]
The sound of Bobby D’s Christmas might be a bit off at times, like a town drunk nasally caroling down the street. It might be outlandishly kitsch. It certainly has it’s precious warm moments. Most of all, “Christmas In The Heart” is a hilarious good time. I’m not a surefire Dylan fan as I made […]
On her way out at Spout, Karina Longworth noted a few days ago that the film blogosphere can feel like “hundreds of traffic-chasers, who are essentially blaring the same thing, at the same time, all day long.” She doesn’t like it one bit. And such was the attitude Focus Features CEO/Ang Lee’s screenwriter James Schamus […]
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