The newest film from John Michael McDonagh (The Guard), brother of Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, and the Oscar-winning short Six Shooter). This family seems to have a great working relationship with Brendan Gleeson.
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Lasse Halstom’s “The Hundred-Foot Journey” Looks Like a Treacly Mess (trailer)
I remember when a new Lasse Halstrom picture used to be cause for excitement: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules, even Chocolat. But over the past decade his output has been more and more disappointing: Casanova, The Hoax, Dear John. 2011’s well-received Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was a exception to his downward trend. Unfortunately the trailer for his newest, The Hundred-Foot Journey, looks to put him back on the wrong track.
I’ll be honest, even in the best of his best films Halstrom can get a little heavy-handed with the sentimentality. But early in his career he proved a deft ability to keep it balanced. From the looks of this trailer he’s tipped the scales fully over to the “schmaltz” side, with very little cleverness to make up for it.
Michael Douglas’ “And So It Goes” Looks Laughably Laugh-less (Trailer)
Rob Reiner directing Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton… 20 years ago, that sentence would’ve been enough to make me expect a classic film that would live on for decades. Now, along with a completely meaningless title and a paint-by-numbers trailer complete with “You Make My Dreams Come True” playing over the clichéd clips, this project looks more like a parody – and a bad one at that – than any kind of filmmaking it’s pedigree would otherwise suggest. *Gag!*
“Gotham” Fox’s New DC Origin Series (Trailer)
With Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. a qualified TV success for ABC, Fox and DC Comics are offering up their answer with Gotham. The new series appears to cover the origins of Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, and several of their most famous nemeses.
Creator Bruno Heller also co-created HBO’s Rome and CBS’ The Mentalist.
The Onion Takes on “Citizen Kane”
The Onion’s relatively new film criticism feature has quickly become one of my very favorite things on the internet. “Head Film Critic Peter K. Rosenthal” is both a hilarious parody of the profession and an increasingly intriguing character in his own right. The reviews always end up being very personal to his on hilarious eccentricities.
Perhaps fittingly, his look back on Citizen Kane takes that idea to the extreme.
R.I.P. – Bob Hoskins
Legendary British actor Bob Hoskins died of pneumonia yesterday at the age of 71. (See reports from BBC, Huffington Post, CNN, and several others.)
He was perhaps most famous for his lead (co-lead?) role in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and as Smee in Steven Spielberg’s Hook. But his resume is a long and impressive one over more than 40 years. He gained widespread acclaim for the 1980 classic The Long Good Friday, and has since had memorable roles in Brazil, Mona Lisa, Pink Floyd The Wall, Mermaids, Nixon, Enemy at the Gates, Unleashed, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Hollywoodland, a 2000 TV version of Don Quixote, and many many more. Most recently he appeared in Snow White and the Huntsman.
Even as bad as Super Mario Bros. was, I still loved seeing him in the role.
(Yup that’s the entire movie, if you feel so inclined.)
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