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April 28, 2006
Hard Candy
(out of four)
Hard Candy tells the story of a 14-year-old nymphet who teases a child molester 18 years her senior on IM, invites herself over to his house, drugs the guy and proceeds to torture him on behalf of those he might otherwise harm in the future.
What parent would take their child to see this movie? This, folks, is the reason the NC-17 rating exists. And yet Hard Candy is rated R -- as were High Tension and both Saw movies before it. Evidently Lionsgate, the company behind all four, knows something the rest of us don't about how the MPAA operates.
Posted by Peter Debruge at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2006
Poseidon story
The original Poseidon Adventure was high concept before the phrase even existed.
The remake, says producer Akiva Goldsman, "maintains the essential foundations of the original movie: big boat, cast of several, bigger wave, how do we get out?"
But by bringing a brand-name director to the table, the Poseidon producers manage to go higher concept still. This is The Poseidon Adventure as retold by Wolfgang Petersen.
Continue reading "Poseidon story"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2006
James Cameron talks digital, 3-D
"There isn't a film that I've got in my queue — and I'm four deep right now in projects that I've got scripted and want to shoot — that I wouldn't want to make in 3-D," James Cameron says. "I'm betting the frickin' farm on this."
When "the King of the World" sets his sights on tomorrow's technology, the rest of the industry takes note. And Cameron is making a commitment to digital.
Continue reading "James Cameron talks digital, 3-D"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
The Sentinel
(out of four)
The Sentinel represents something of a demotion for Michael Douglas. A decade ago, he was filling the commander-in-chief's shoes in the perfectly romantic The American President. Now, he's stuck protecting the first lady. And this for the decorated agent who took a bullet for Ronald Reagan earlier in his career?
As an actor, Douglas possesses the singular ability to always look as if he's suffering a case of indigestion. That quality, if you could call it that, has the convenient side effect of making Douglas look guilty, which the audience needs as we wonder whether or not he's behind the plot to kill the president. And far be it for me to spoil the film's secrets.
Continue reading "The Sentinel"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2006
The Wild
(out of four)
A lion, a giraffe and a few other outspoken animals escape the Central Park Zoo and sail their way back to Africa in The Wild. If it sounds like you've seen this movie before, that's because you have.
But I'm going to try to write this review without mentioning the "M word" because computer-animated films take years to make, and this isn't the first time two concurrently produced toons have resulted in uncanny similarities (A Bug's Life and Antz or Finding Nemo and Shark Tale come to mind).
Posted by Peter Debruge at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)