Ben Stiller directed the ultimate Hollywood satire with Tropic Thunder. He developed the story with Justin Theroux, and the pair wrote a script with Ethan Cohen. It’s sharp, pointed, and under its endlessly quotable dialogue and performances is a skewering look at Tinsel Town. Everything seems to be a lie, from promotions to images to…
Tag: actors
The Raid 2 (2014) – Gareth Evans
Picking up shortly after the first film, The Raid 2 sees Rama (Iko Uwais) recruited into a secret, and small division of the police to go undercover in the hopes of securing tangible and undeniable proof of police corruption. The only way for it to be believable is if Rama breaks the law, and can…
Lord Edgware Dies (1933) – Agatha Christie
Murder most foul! Three of them in point of fact, but don’t be fooled by the image on the cover of the book, none of them are committed with a pistol! It’s been awhile since I read an Agatha Christie mystery, other books came along, and I knew her library of work would wait patiently…
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) – Chris Columbus
The magic of Harry Potter continues in Warner Brothers’ second instalment of what would go on to be an insanely profitable franchise. Director Chris Columbus returned for a second outing, with this adaption of the second book in the series (which was still being written at the time – can you remember the time when…
TIFF 2021: Dune dir. Denis Villeneuve
Magnificent. Triumphant. THIS is the movie I saw in my mind’s eye when I first read Dune in 1984 when I was anticipating the Lynch film (which I love for its own reasons). The visual aesthetic, the sound and production design, the score (I swear Hans Zimmer isn’t the only one throwing a few nods…
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (2009) – Daniel Alfredon
The third installment in the Millennium Trilogy, based on the novels by Stieg Larsson delivers a white knuckle ending to the film series that is just as engaging and character driven as the books on which they are based. Noomi Rapace returns as Lisbeth Salander, who is in the hospital, and then arrested following the…
The Expendables (2010) – Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone stars, directs and writes (alongside Dave Callaham) in The Expendables, and he brings along a brilliant ensemble cast of classic action heroes, wrestlers and actors. Padding out a fairly simple story with some explosive set pieces this is just a mostly brainless action flick that serves as homage to the action films that…
Shogun (1980) – Disc 1
Ah the late 70s and early 80s, the age of the television mini-series, an almost forgotten television event, though slowly being rediscovered by the advent of the limited series. It’s slightly different of course, because back then, there were only a few channels available, making a mini-series an event over consecutive nights. Shogun was based…
Moonlighting (1988) – Eek! A Spouse!, and Maddie Hayes Got Married
So Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) is married, and David (Bruce Willis) despite blowing up last week, seems to be handling the news better than the rest of the office in Eek! A Spouse! Written by Ron Osborn and Charles H. Eglee from a story by Roger Director, Kerry Ehrin, and Jeff Reno, this episode debuted on…
Moonlighting (1987) – Cool Hand Dave: Part 1 & 2
Tired of waiting for Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) to return, David (Bruce Willis) flies to Chicago to confront her, after Agnes (Allyce Beasley) spills the pregnancy news to Bert (Curtis Armstrong) who in turn shares it with David. The episode aired on 17 November, 1987, and was written by Roger Director and Charles H. Eglee. Unfortunately,…
The Mind Reels 