Alan Rapp

Dark Crystal Redux?

/ / Film News & Trailers

I have a soft spot in my heart for 1982’s The Dark Crystal which was written and directed by Muppet legend Jim Henson.  It’s a beautiful and wondrous tale and one of the most unique films of it’s time…well not anymore ‘cause there’s gonna’ be a sequel!  Wow, did you hear the cash registers chime?  The Power of the Dark Crystal will attempt to merge the style of the original with CGI and make something new.  Mmm-hmm….I’ll won’t hold my breath.  There may be a silver lining however, even without Jim Henson the original conceptual designer Brian Froud is on board and Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that the studios have decided against Brain Henson behind the director’s chair in favor of Genndy Tartakovsky.  Now what the creator of Samurai Jack might do with the world of The Dark Crystal certainly piques my curiousity.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Power of the Dark Crystal
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Dark Crystal Redux? Read More »

2046

/ / Home Video
  • Title: 2046
  • IMDb: link

2046

2046, the latest from Kar Wai Wong, is a mysterious tale of love and loss.  The film is a follow up to In the Mood For Love and although some of the same characters appear as in the first movie it really isn’t what you would describe as a sequel.  What it turns out to be is a complex love story spanning years and distances, time and space, in the search for 2046.

What is 2046?  It’s a time, it’s a place, it’s the title of a novel, it’s a state of mind, and it’s the number of a hotel room that houses a series of women who catch the attention of our protagonist who lives across the hall.  2046 is as much art as film and tells a winding, sometimes confusing but thoroughly enjoyable, story through times and memories, both real and imaginary. 

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Academy Award Nominations

/ / Uncategorized

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced their list of nominees for the 78th annual Oscars.  No surprise (though a little dread) that with the results of recent award shows Brokeback Mountain (which won the Golden Globe for Drama and the Director’s Guild Best Picture) leads all films with eight nominations.  We’ll see if anyone can upset the front runner.  Walk the Line (which won the Golden Globe for Musical or Comedy) pulled in five Oscar nominations but not one for best picture.  The two best films of the year, Steven Spielberg’s amazing drama about the life after the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympic Games Munich and George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck have been unable to cash in on their nominations and been largely ignored by awards commitees this year.  And I won’t even get started on the scarcity of nominations for the tremendous A History of Violence.  The two films with some momentum going into the Oscars that could give Brokeback some challenge are Capote with Philip Seymour Hoffman winning at almost every award ceremony for his portrayal of the title character, and Crash which just Saturday took home the top award at the Screen Actor’s Guild.  For a list of the nominees read on…

78th Academy Awards
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Enough talk, we’ll be debate this list in the weeks to come (plus the films and performances we feel got snubbed by Oscar).  For now though just take a looksee at what was honored just to be nominated.

Best Picture

Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Best Director

Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennet Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Steven Spielberg, Munich

Best Actor

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrance Howard, Huslte & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Actress

Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Keira Knightly, Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Supporting Actor

George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence

Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain

Original Screenplay

Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck
Woody Allen, Match Point
Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale
Stephen Gaghan, Syriana

Adapted Screenplay

Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain
Dan Futterman, Capote
Jeffrey Caine, The Constant Gardener
Josh Olson, A History of Violence
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, Munich

Foreign Film

Don’t Tell, Italy
Joyeux Noel, France
Paradise Now, Palestine
Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, Germany
Tsotsi, South Africa

Animated Feature Film

Howl’s Moving Castle
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Original Song

“In the Deep”, Crash
“It’s Hard Here for a Pimp”, Huslte & Flow
“Travelin’ Thru’ Transamerica,” Transamerica

Original Score

Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Pride & Prejudice

For the more technical awards (editing, sound mixing, etc., view the whole list here).

Academy Award Nominations Read More »

This Week

/ / Uncategorized

It’s Super Bowl week but before Sunday’s big game there’s quite a bit for your entertainment dollar.  Tueday’s DVD releases include yet another version of David Lynch’s monumental trainwreck, the retun of Anthony Banderas as Zorro, and lots of fun 80’s TV with Mr. T, a talking Trans-Am, and a detective in a Ferrari.  Planning to hit the theaters this Friday?  Well check out what’s scheduled to hit theaters this week including A Good Woman with Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson (check back Friday for the review).  Read on…

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RazorFine gets you set up for the week with a look at what’s coming to your local theater, video store, and beamed directly into your television this week.  Here’s what’s happenin’…

TV

Conviction 9:00/8:00 Monday BBC America (Premiere)
State of the Union Address 9:00/8:00 Tuesday
Survivor: Panama 8:00/7:00 Thursday CBS (Premiere)
Super Bowl XL Sunday 6:00/5:00 Sunday

DVD
New releases for Tuesday, January 31:

Bubble
Dune (Extended Edition)
In Her Shoes
The Legend of Zorro
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Essential Atom Egoyan Box Set
A-Team – Season Three
Diff’rent Strokes – The Complete Second Season
Hill Street Blues – Season One
Knight Rider – Season Three
Magnum, P.I. – Season Three
MI-5 – Volume 3
The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection
The Rat Patrol – The Complete First Season

Film
Movies opening Friday, February 3:

When a Stranger Calls
Babysitter (Camilla Belle) gets harassed by strange phone calls while watching the children of a young yuppie couple.  Scared she calls the police only to discover the calls are coming from inside the house.  Almost certainly as stupid as it sounds and it’s a remake of a horror movie which never turns out good (here’s the 1979 original).

Something New
A romantic comedy by first time director Sanaa Hamri out just in time for Valentines Day about a single woman in L.A. looking for love in an interracial relationship her friends don’t understand.  The cast includes Sanaa Latham, Simon Barker, Alfre Woodard, Felicia Walker, Tanisha Harper, Tom Ratzenberger, David Monahan, and Blair Underwood.

The Three Burials of Melaquiades (Limited)
Directed and starring Tommy Lee Jones the winding tale focuses on a murder at the US / Mexico border and the body who keeps getting dug up and an investigation of the circumstances of his death.  The first time in the director’s chair for Jones, the film also stars Dwight Yokum and Barry Pepper.

A Good Woman (Limited)
Based on the Oscar Wilde play “Lady Windermere’s Fan” the movie tells the tale of a promiscuous and scandalous woman (Helen Hunt) known to take advantage of married men leaves New York and journeys overseas to where more prosperous opportunities loom just over the horizon.  A British production filmed in 2004 that is only now seeing the inside of American theaters.  With Scarlett Johannson, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Umbers, and Tom Standing.

Suits on the Loose (Limited)
Light comedy about two teenagers (Brandon Beemer and Ty Hodges) who flee desert survival camp and end up in being mistaken for Mormon missionaries by the town of New Harmony.  Written and directed by first timer Rodney Henson.

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Ole

/ / Movie Reviews

Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear give us the odd pairing of the hitman and the salesman in Mexico where margaritas aren’t the only thing that tastes better.  Brosnan kicks some serious ass as the hitman who has lost his edge but not his inappropriate sense of humor.

The Matador
3 & 1/2 Stars

Pierce Brosnan is funny.  It’s been so many years since Remington Steele that I had forgotten how funny he could be.  If The Tailor of Panama was a realistic take on his Bond character The Matador is the comedic take.  Brosnan owns the screen in this nice little gem.

Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) is a struggling businessman who has traveled to Mexico with his business partner to try and put together a deal to save his livelihood.  In the hotel bar one night he meets Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) an interesting but rather uncouth gentleman who buys him a drink.  Aganist his better judgement Danny spends some time with Julian and learns what he does for a living.  Julian is a hitman, though one who is beginning to lose his edge. 

Time passes and Julian has botched another job so badly that his bosses have put a hit out on the hitman.  With nowhere else to go he goes to stay with Danny and his wife Bean (Hope Davis) hoping to guilt Danny into helping to get him out of this mess and remind Danny of the favor he owes.

Brosnan is terrific as the friendless lone gunman who doesn’t really know how to act with people (his comments to Danny in the bar are hysterical!)  Kinnear works well as a straight man to Brosnan’s antics and Davis, who I normally don’t like, is well cast as Danny’s wife.  There are many small characters but the film rests on the odd couple relationship between Danny and Julian who aren’t quite friends but something more than strangers.

The movie skips around a little too much and could use one last edit as the film is slightly uneven in its tone.  I also wasn’t a fan of the large full screen fonts in presenting a new location or story transition.

The Matador is a good comedy that allows Brosnan to go full out and give one hell of a performance.  Though not great, I’d put this at the top of pretty good comedies of the year such as Waiting…, Cassanova, and The Weather Man, it’s definately worth checking out for a very different type of comedy than the usual Hollywood fare.

Ole Read More »