Bringing Stephen King novels to the big screen is always fraught with conundrums, the expansive detail not often translating well to film. Condensing the eight Dark Tower novels into a single sub-100 minute movie seemed especially ambitious. The Dark Tower screenwriters plucked bits and pieces from the series, beginning in the middle and crafting a tale from there.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/dayearthstill.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>A flying saucer lands in Washington D.C., capturing the attention of the world. When Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and his robot Gort (Lock Martin) emerge from the vehicle, Klaatu is shot by a nervous soldier and taken to Walter Reed Hospital for recovery. He soon receives a visit from the President's envoy, Mr. Harley (Frank Conroy), who apologizes for the misunderstanding. Klaatu's only request is to meet with all of the world's leaders to deliver a message, but given the political climate, this is an impossible request.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/day2008.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Based on the short story <i>Farewell to the Master</i> by Henry Bates, <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i> tries to modernize the 1951 classic with modern special effects and a new take on the story. Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) and his robot Gort emerge from a spaceship in Central Park, whereupon he's shot by a nervous soldier. Klaatu is then rushed to a military hospital for surgery, and once he's patched up, he is visited by the Secretary of Defense (Kathy Bates), who denies his request for a meeting with the UN. With the help of Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), Klaatu escapes, and the two end up spending the majority of their time together as all hell breaks loose.
For those who found Revolutionary Road too upbeat comes its British postwar counterpart in the soul-crushing slog that is The Deep Blue Sea (for those hoping to read a review of Renny Harlin’s guilty pleasure of a shark movie, the title of that is simply Deep Blue Sea, so sorry to disappoint you!). Set in 1950 post-war London, The Deep Blue Sea gives us Hester (Rachel Weisz), a smart, cultured, and ardent woman at a time when none of those traits was apparently valued in British society. Hester leaves her staid marriage to a wealthy judge old enough to be her father (and who looks old enough to be her grandfather), falling in for a fiery affair with a handsome pilot nearer her age named Freddie (Tom Hiddleston, or Loki to Avengers fans out there). The drag is, Freddie’s rather a creep and has issues with both commitment and finding gainful employment.
With a heavyweight cast including Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, and Meryl Streep, 1979's five-time Academy Award-winning (including for Best Picture and Best Director) The Deer Hunter is an at times elegiac look at an America that was. It also explores the domestic woes of the working class, and later takes a brutal view of the experiences and consequences of war.
What do you say about a Best Picture Winner? For one, I can say I didn't think it was the best movie I saw in 2006, even though I only saw a handful of movies. I can also say unequivocally that I don't agree at all that this is Martin Scorsese's best movie since the seminal <I>Goodfellas</I> in 1990. <I>Kundun</I> and <I>The Aviator</I> were as good or better. But Oscar had some catching up to do, and did so with a vengeance.
This witty take on the fashion industry, with its dedicated, nearly obsessed careerists, should appeal to anyone who can get over the idea that it's just a chick flick. In fact, there are parallels here to any industry that demands total dedication. When I first saw the scenes of the big annual fashion gathering in Paris, I thought "CES!" OK, Vegas isn't Paris (not even at the Paris), and CES parties don't have as many gorgeous, skinny women. But you get the idea.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/diary.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Following the Nazi invasion of Amsterdam, 13-year-old Anne Frank (Millie Perkins) and her family go into hiding in the confines of an attic. Anne's remarkable account of their lives, their growing fear of discovery, and even the blooming of her first love, are intimately depicted in this extraordinary portrait of humanity.
Since college, confirmed bachelor Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and happily married Nick (Kevin James) have been through it all. Partners in an auto design firm, the pair are vying to land a dream project with Chrysler that will launch them into the big time, but when Ronny inadvertently sees Nick's wife kiss another man, he makes it his mission to get answers.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of a bad film Ron Howard has directed over his career, so I'm going to cut him some slack for this middling effort. While the two stars are supremely talented when it comes to comedy, the editing is this film is terrible and it really kills the pacing. Scenes drag on forever and there are certain subplots that could have been cut altogether (sorry Queen Latifah) that would have improved it immensely.
Oliver stone first heard The Doors while serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in the late-1960s, and the impact of their music never left him. Amid much controversy, the Oscar-winning director brought his singular vision for The Doors biopic to middling box-office success in 1991. Though some disagreement lingers regarding particular story beats and extrapolated mythologizing, there's no denying Stone conveyed much of the perpetual mystique surrounding Doors frontman Jim Morrison with an altruistic eye.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/theduchess.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley) was married at 17 to a wealthy and emotionally constipated William Cavendish (Ralph Fiennes), the fifth Duke of Devonshire. He had only two requirements—to provide him with a male heir and her loyalty. As Duchess of Devonshire, she becomes an integral part of London's high society and one of the most impassioned political voices of Britain in the 18th Century.
I spent a big chunk of my life running movies in New York City neighborhood dumps, art houses, and palaces, so I may be a little biased, but Peter Flynn’s The Dying of the Light documentary about projectionists brought tears to my eyes. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Flynn, since projectionists are much more at home on the other side of the lens. They all share a common bond, knowing that if they do the job well, the audience will be unaware they did anything at all. That’s the beauty of it.