It's The Hands of Orlac once again -- the transplanted appendages with minds of their own -- only it's extended to whole arms, legs, finally head. As in his script for The Hitcher, writer-director Eric Red has material suitable for a half-hour Twilight Zone and then stretches it out very, …
Second remake of Don Siegel's epochal Invasion of the Body Snatchers, sixteen years after the first remake, thirty-eight after the original. Though the theme -- creeping conformity in the form of extraterrestrial "pods" that replicate and replace the bodies of earthlings -- has not in the least become dated, the …
A risky title for a movie, particularly for a dish of sentimental tripe about a peewee prestidigitator who has Whoopi Goldberg for a put-upon foster mom and Gerard Depardieu for an imaginary playmate. The playmate eventually expands his repertoire to imaginary dance partner, imaginary family therapist, imaginary educator, imaginary moralizer. …
Substantive biopic, or little silhouette of a docudrama sporting performances by a Queen tribute band? As frontman Freddie Mercury, Rami Malek’s ability to outdistance the Nutty Professor bucks and Planet of the Apes shag is a testament to his charisma. Alas, almost from the start the project seemed ill-omened. It’s …
Substantive biopic, or little silhouette of a docudrama sporting performances by a Queen tribute band? As frontman Freddie Mercury, Rami Malek’s ability to outdistance the Nutty Professor bucks and Planet of the Apes shag is a testament to his charisma. Alas, almost from the start the project seemed ill-omened. It’s …
Moral tale about the brash young turks (especially the pasty, mumbly Giovanni Ribisi) of a crooked stock brokerage. An uncinematic subject ("Do you know what 'bridge financing' is?") injected with testosterone and hip-hop. They're no help, and nor is the sickly bluish-greenish image. Writer-director Ben Younger is up front about …
Though set in contemporary L.A., this is an old-fashioned urban thriller (the Johnny Mercer tune, "Dream," as mellowly performed by the Danny May Orchestra and Singers, harks back to the correct period during the opening credits), with a tightly constructed plot, a low-key acting ensemble as smooth and well-blended as …
Rohit Shetty's action-packed remake of the 1979 Bollywood comedy Gol Maal. You can see every penny of the film's nearly $14 million budget up there on the screen. Brightly colored, dancy, slo-mo goodness abounds.
Ever seen a dancing windmill?