Probably best known to American audiences for winning a supporting-actor Oscar for his performance as the quietly ruthless Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men, Spain’s Javier Bardem is quietly proving himself to be one of the finest screen…
In the spring of 1961, major league baseball was changing. The American League had expanded its ranks by two teams (the Los Angeles Angels and the second incarnation of the Washington Senators), and the 154-game baseball season had been extended…
The prequel to Gettysburg, Gods and Generals is well intentioned. Director Ronald F. Maxwell’s dedication to the era is unquestionable. Unfortunately, his love for the subject has led to a bloated project that feels like a mediocre mini-series rather than…
For much of the 1990’s, John Grisham’s novels dominated bestsellers lists. A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and The Firm are considered among his best. While all four were adapted into successful films, The Firm is by…
The Hustler is no more about pool then than Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull is about boxing. At first glance, you might disagree. After all, most of The Hustler takes place in billiard rooms and pool halls. However, if the lead…
The story of Romeo & Juliet has been told a lot, but never quite like this. Imagine Shakespeare’s classic told by a group of garden gnomes, scored to the music of Elton John. How about a voice cast that includes…
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, Gettysburg tells the story of four hot days in the summer of 1863, that changed the tide of the Civil War. A densely packed 271-minutes, and featuring…
Based on a book by John O’Brien, Leaving Las Vegas isn’t typical Hollywood fare. Most love stories are relentless in their optimism, and happy ending is mandatory. Therefore, it’s very unusual when a romance develops and stays entangled in the…
1986’s Platoon is a semi-autobiographical film. Writer/director Oliver Stone, who served as an infantryman in Vietnam, integrated several of his own experiences into the film. The main characters are based on people Stone served with. The lead and narrator, Chris…
Renowned for his use of visual humor, Charlie Chaplin was slow to embrace sound in motion pictures. His early forays into sound like City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) continued to be mostly devoid of dialogue. Instead, he relied…