Review: "TOP GUN: Maverick" Surpasses the Original and is Hugely Entertaining

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 of 2022 (No. 1846) by Leroy Douresseaux

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Running time:  131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language
DIRECTOR:  Joseph Kosinski
WRITERS:  Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie; from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks (based on characters created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr.)
PRODUCERS:  Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer, David Ellison, and Christopher McQuarrie
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Claudio Miranda (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSERS:  Lorne Balfe, Lady Gaga, and Harold Faltermeyer

DRAMA/ACTION/MILITARY

Starring:  Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Bashir Salahuddin, Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Glen Powell, Jack Schumacher, Manny Jacinto, Kara Wang, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Jean Louisa Kelly, Lyliana Wray, Ed Harris, Chelsea Harris, and Val Kilmer

Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 action and military drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise.  The film is a direct sequel to the 1986 film, Top Gun.  Maverick focuses on a veteran U.S. Navy flight instructor ordered to transform a group of the Navy's top young aviators into a fighter squadron that can take on an impossible mission.

Top Gun: Maverick opens over three decades after the events of the first film.  Former “Top Gun” candidate, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) currently serves as a U.S. Navy test pilot.  Over his 33 years of service, he has purposely dodged promotion in order to continue flying for the Navy.  A stunt with the “Darkstar scramjet” program looks as if it is going to be the thing that finally gets Maverick grounded.  However, Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, is Maverick's former rival and his friend.  Iceman saves Maverick from being grounded by giving him orders to return to where they first met, the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program in San Diego, CA.

There, Maverick must train an elite group of 16 Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission – a dangerous and practically impossible mission.  However, there are plenty of ghosts from his past waiting for him there, including Penelope "Penny" Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), Maverick's former lover, who is a single mother, a bar owner, and the daughter of a former admiral.

The most troubling ghost from Maverick's past, however, may be one of the young aviators he must train, Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller).  He is the son of Maverick's late best friend and RIO (Radar Intercept Officer), Nick “Goose” Bradshaw.  Maverick still blames himself for Goose's death during a training flight (as seen in Top Gun), and, in a way, so does Rooster, who also blames Maverick for hurting his career as an aviator.  As he pushes this elite group of aviators to test their limits and beyond, Maverick wonders if he may finally be grounded and fears that he may also end up causing the son's death as he believes he caused the father's death.

I don't like Top Gun.  I think that it is not a very well made film.  I love Top Gun: Maverick, which is a direct sequel to the original film and is intimately tied to it.  In a way, Maverick takes some of the best story elements of the first film and gives them dramatic heft, depth, weight, and a gravitas that they really did not have in the original.

Top Gun: Maverick is just all-around well made.  Joseph Kosinski does a much better job at directing the sequel than the late Tony Scott did with the original.  Maverick's screenplay, which like the original, is the result of several writers, nonetheless comes across like a seamless work produced by a single talented story mind.  The film editing is superb, so Maverick's editor, Eddie Hamilton, should also get an Oscar nomination next year, because the editors of the first film were Oscar-nominated for their … problematic work.  Even Maverick's musical score is better, although quite a bit of Harold Faltermeyer's music from the first film does make it into the sequel.

Top Gun: Maverick may also be Tom Cruise's best dramatic performance in over two decades.  Not only do his emotions seem genuine, but his emotional range is shocking.  Cruise has award-worthy moments in this film, especially a pivotal scene between Maverick and Iceman.  Cruise and Miles Teller also seem to work very well together, and Teller once again proves that he has some serious dramatic chops.  Jennifer Connelly, an Oscar-winner, as Penny, makes the most of what comes across as an extraneous token female character.  Actually, quite a few actors make the most of their roles and screen time in this surprisingly heartfelt and genuinely emotional film.

Top Gun: Maverick is, of course, an intense action-thriller with some amazing flight and combat scenes and sequences.  It kept me on the edge of my seat, worrying that one of the young pilots or Maverick would be killed in a crash or in combat.  And no, the filmmakers apparently did not use computer-generated effects for the flight scenes.  This is all advanced cameras, fighter planes, and human pilots, making the film a masterpiece of practical filmmaking and U.S. Navy flying.  Top Gun: Maverick surpasses Top Gun as a military-action film, and is something the first film was not, an emotionally resonate and real military drama.

Yes, it does seem to work a little too hard at pushing our buttons with dramatic conflict and melodrama.  But I honestly enjoyed the heck out of this film in a way that I did not expect – even after hearing so many good things before I saw it.  Top Gun: Maverick is … well, awesome, and this time, I really feel the need for speed and for more Top Gun.  And Tom Cruise still looks good on a motorcycle.

8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, May 27, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Paramont Reveals "mother" Poster with New James Jean Art

"mother"

They came to see him.

Official trailer coming August 8, 2017. mother! is in theaters September 15, 2017.

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. From filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream), mother! stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer in this riveting psychological thriller about love, devotion and sacrifice.

mother! Official Channels
Hashtag: #mothermovie
Facebook: /OfficialMotherMovie
Twitter: @MotherMovie
Instagram: @MotherMovie
Website: MotherMovie.com

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Review: "Snowpiercer" is Unique and Thrilling

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

Snowpiercer (2013)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  South Korea
Running time:  126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, language and drug content
DIRECTOR:  Bong Joon Ho
WRITERS: Joon-ho Bong and Kelly Masterson; from a screen story by Joon-ho Bong (based on the comic book,  Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, and Jean-Marc Rochette)
PRODUCERS:  Tae-sung Jeong, Wonjo Jeong, Miky Lee, Tae-hun Lee, Steven Nam, and Chan-wook Park
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Kyung-pyo Hong
EDITORS:  Steve M. Choe and Changju Kim
COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami

SCI-FI/DRAMA/ACTION

Starring:  Chris Evans, Song Kang Ho, Tilda Swinton, Ko Asung, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ewen Bremner, Vlad Ivanov, Marcanthonee Jon Reis, Emma Levie, Allison Pill, and Ed Harris

Snowpiercer is a 2013 South Korean science fiction film from director Bong Joon Ho.  The film is based on a series of French graphic novels that began in 1982 with the first book, Le Transperceneige (Snowpiercer).  Snowpiercer the movie takes place on a class strife-ridden train that is the only home of the last humans alive on Earth.

At the beginning of Snowpiercer, we learn that humans made an attempt to halt global warming by spraying the chemical, CW-7, into the atmosphere.  That backfired, and the result was the start of an ice age so severe that almost all life on Earth was destroyed.

The only human survivors are now living in Snowpiercer, a massive train that travels on a globe-spanning train track.  However, a rigid class system pervades Snowpiercer with the elites living in the front of the train; people useful to the elites occupying in the middle; and the utterly poor and destitute inhabiting the tail of the train.

In the year 2031, the tail inhabitants prepare to launch another rebellion against the elites.  Although past rebellions have failed, this new rebellion may have finally found the one man who can lead the poor people to the very front door of Wilford (Ed Harris), the creator of the train.  This new leader's name is Curtis Everett (Chris Evans), and he has a plan to get past Snowpiercer's security system and its armed guards.  In order for his plan to work, however, Curt must rely on Nam Kung Min Soo (Song Kang Ho), a drug addict who doesn't speak a word of English, and also on his kooky daughter, Yona (Ko Asung).

Snowpiercer is one of the best films of 2014.  Everything about it is high-quality, especially its beautiful cinematography and its production design, which is both imaginative and inventive.  Considering the narrow spaces with which production designer Ondrej Nekvasil had to work, he managed to recreate a diverse cross section of modern humanity's interior living environments in a way that is almost too impressive for words.

The ensemble cast is also excellent, with Tilda Swinton delivering a splendid performance as Mason.  This is a character that is so odd that anyone other than a highly-talented and skilled actor would fumble.  My favorite performance, however, is that of Chris Evans as Curtis Everett.

Evans began his rise as a movie star by showing his ability to be funny or to deliver light comic flourishes whenever a film in which he appeared desperately needed some genuine humor.  He was often the saving grace of 20th Century Fox's 2005-2007 Fantastic Four film franchise.  Evans then showed that he could be an action movie star in Marvel Studio's Captain America films by bring dramatic heft and gravitas to both Captain America films and to Marvel's The Avengers, in which he also appeared as Captain America.

In Snowpiercer, Evans puts a lock on leading man status.  He looks like a leader, and, in this performance, he carries and embodies this film's social commentary in Curtis Everett's physicality and his emotions, and especially in his spirit.  Evans leaves no doubt that he is not only the real deal as a movie star, but also as an actor.

Co-writer and director Bong Joon Ho (or Joon-ho Bong) gives Snowpiercer visual scope, creating a big picture in a setting that is both intimate and claustrophobic.  Bong shows that science fiction can be more than just imaginative and speculative about the future.  It can and should speak to the modern condition; the genre wants to be more than just escapism.  I still wish that Snowpiercer had spent more time with more of its amazing cast of characters.  That does not keep me from declaring that this is a unique science fiction film because its themes and ideas are both non-fiction and important.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, February 24, 2015


NOTES:
2015 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Octavia Spencer)


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Planes: Fire and Rescue" Flies Past Original

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)
Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
Rating: MPAA – PG for action and some peril
DIRECTOR:  Bob Gannaway
WRITERS:  Jeffrey M. Howard; from a story by Jeffrey M. Howard and Bob Gannaway (based on characters created by John Lasseter, Klay Hall, and Jeffrey M. Howard)
PRODUCER:  Ferrell Barron
EDITOR:  Dan Molina
COMPOSER:  Mark Mancina

ANIMATION/ACTION/DRAMA/FAMILY with elements of comedy

Starring:  Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen, Curtis Armstrong, John Michael Higgins, Hal Holbrook, Wes Studi, Barry Corbin, Regina King, Fred Willard, Kevin Michael Richardson, Rene Auberjonois, Jerry Stiller, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Cedric the Entertainer, Danny Mann, John Ratzenberger, and Brent Musburger

Planes: Fire & Rescue is a 2014 computer-animated fantasy action film and drama that was produced by DisneyToon Studios.  It is a direct sequel to the 2013 film, Planes.  The Planes film series is a spinoff of Pixar's Cars film franchise.  Planes focuses on Dusty, a cropduster plane who dreams of competing in a world-famous aerial race.  In Planes: Fire & Rescue, Dusty learns that he may never race again and begins training as a firefighter to help his hometown.

As Planes: Fire & Rescue opens, Dusty Crophopper (Dane Cook) continues his successful aerial racing career that took off after he won the Wings Around the Globe Rally.  However, the high rates of speed at which Dusty flies leads to some internal damage that may end his racing career.  After an accidental fire closes the airport in his hometown of Propwash Junction, Dusty offers to undergo training to be certified as a firefighter.

He travels to Piston Peak National Park to train under Blade Ranger (Ed Harris), a veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter, and the crew he commands, the Piston Peak Air Attack.  Dusty, however, is over-anxious and his training proves to be a difficult challenge, even as a major fire strengthens and threatens the entire park.

There is no way that I expected Planes: Fire & Rescue to be a better film than Planes, which I really liked, but the sequel surpasses the original.  Why is that?   Fire & Rescue has heart; it's that simple.  Dusty Crophopper's problems:  the dilemmas he faces, his conflicts with his new colleagues, his self-doubts, his grief over a possibly lost career, and his desperation to prove himself all over again make for surprisingly gripping drama.

Yes, I said drama.  Pixar's films are strongly dramatic, even when there is a lot humor or at least a strong undercurrent of humor.  The Planes films are a spinoff of a Pixar series, but are not produced by Pixar.  They are produced by another Disney unit (DisneyToon Studios).  Still, Fire & Rescue feels kind of Pixar-ish, and that is, of course, a good thing.  This film is more of a heartwarming drama than it is a comedy for children.

Fire & Rescue is also a topnotch aerial action film.  It is still hard for me to believe that computer-animated air planes and helicopters in action could be as exciting to watch as live-action airplanes and jets, but it is true.  My interest in the story soared with each new flight scene.

Once again, the voice acting cast supporting Dane Cook is good, and that means a good film for family viewing and a good film in general.  In fact, I think that if more adults gave Planes: Fire & Rescue a chance, they would like it.

7 of 10
A-

Tuesday, November 4, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Comic That Inspired New Chris Evans' Flick "Snowpiercer" Coming to America

TITAN COMICS RELEASES SNOWPIERCER – THE GRAPHIC NOVEL THAT INSPIRED THE NEW CHRIS EVANS FILM!

Translated from the highly acclaimed French classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring Captain America star Chris Evans!

Titan Comics is proud to announce a world-first English translation of the acclaimed French comic, in a pair of graphic novels hitting stores in early 2014 ahead of the US release of the film! Volume 1: The Escape is released January 29, 2014, with Volume 2: The Explorers following February 25, 2014

Coursing through an eternal winter, on an icy track wrapped around the frozen planet Earth, there travels Snowpiercer, a train one thousand and one carriages long. From fearsome engine to final car, all surviving human life is here: a complete hierarchy of the society we lost…

The elite, as ever, travel in luxury at the front of the train – but for those in the rear coaches, life is squalid, miserable and short.

Proloff is a refugee from the tail, determined never to go back. In his journey forward through the train, he hopes to reach the mythical engine and, perhaps, find some hope for the future…

The thrilling original graphic novels have been adapted into an astounding new film directed by Joon-ho Bong (The Host), starring Chris Evans (Captain America), Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott, The Adventures of Tintin), Ed Harris (A History of Violence, The Abyss, Apollo 13) and John Hurt (Hellboy, V For Vendetta, Alien, Doctor Who), and distributed in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company, and due for release in Q1 2014

Check out the trailer here.

Written by the late Jacques Lob, winner of the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, and Benjamin Legrand, the author of numerous thriller novels, screenplays, and comic scripts, Snowpiercer is illustrated by Jean-Marc Rochette, who has worked across a variety of projects and genres, from science fiction comics to children’s cartoons – including adaptations of Voltaire’s Candide and Homer’s Odyssey.

Retailers can order Snowpiercer vol. 1: The Escape from November PREVIEWS (order code: NOV131240). Snowpiercer vol. 2: The Explorers will be available to order from December PREVIEWS.

To keep up-to-date with news about Snowpiercer join Titan Comics on Facebook or follow @comicstitan on Twitter.

For more information about Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com

About Snowpiercer Vol.1 The Escape
From fearsome engine to final car, all surviving human life is here: a complete hierarchy of the society we lost.

The elite, as ever, travel in luxury at the front of the train – but for those in the rear coaches, life is squalid, miserable and short.

Proloff is a refugee from the tail, determined never to go back. In his journey forward through the train, he hopes to reach the mythical engine and, perhaps, find some hope for the future…

Translated from the highly acclaimed French classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring megastar Chris Evans.

Jacques Lob/Benjamin Legrand/Jean-Marc Rochette
Details: HC, 8x11, 112pgs, B/W, $19.99/£14.99
Released: January 29, 2014
Diamond PREVIEWS order code: NOV131240

About Snowpiercer Vol.2 The Explorers
A second train also travels through the snow on the same track, its inhabitants living in constant fear of crashing into the first Snowpiercer.

And from this second train, a small group of scavenging explorers emerges, risking their lives in the deadly cold...

Benjamin Legrand/Jean-Marc Rochette
Details: HC, 8x11, 144 pgs, B/W, $24.99/£19.99
Released: February 25, 2014

About Titan Comics
Titan Comics, a new venture from publishing giant, Titan, offers the best in original creator-owned comics alongside new and classic graphic novels.

Launching in July 2013, Titan Comics has already captured the imaginations of readers, reviewers and retailers with its strong focus on quality, creativity and diversity of genre!

Each new release will also be available on the iPhone, iPad, Web, Android and Kindle Fire.

To keep up-to-date with news on all these new series and future releases from Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com

Connect with Titan Comics:
www.facebook.com/comicstitan
www.twitter.com/comicstitan

Warner Bros.' "Run All Night" Begins Production

Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Run All Night” Begins Production in New York

Shooting underway on the crime thriller starring Liam Neeson and Ed Harris

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography has begun on Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Run All Night,” starring Oscar® nominees Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List,” “Taken”) and Ed Harris (“Pollock,” “The Hours”), as well as Joel Kinnaman (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), under the direction of Jaume Collet-Serra (“Unknown”).

Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon (Neeson), once known as The Gravedigger, has seen better days. Longtime best friend of mob boss Shawn Maguire (Harris), Jimmy, now 55, is haunted by the sins of his past—as well as a dogged police detective who’s been one step behind Jimmy for 30 years. Lately, it seems Jimmy’s only solace can be found at the bottom of a whiskey glass.

But when Jimmy’s estranged son, Mike (Kinnaman), becomes a target, Jimmy must make a choice between the crime family he chose and the real family he abandoned long ago. With Mike on the run, Jimmy’s only penance for his past mistakes may be to keep his son from the same fate Jimmy is certain he’ll face himself…at the wrong end of a gun. Now, with nowhere safe to turn, Jimmy just has one night to figure out exactly where his loyalties lie and to see if he can finally make things right.

Shooting in and around New York City, primarily in Brooklyn and Queens, “Run All Night” also stars Vincent D’Onofrio (TV’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), Boyd Holbrook (HBO’s “Behind the Candelabra”), Patricia Kalember (“Limitless”), Genesis Rodriguez (“Identity Thief”), and Academy Award® nominee Nick Nolte (“Warrior”).

Collet-Serra directs from a screenplay by Brad Ingelsby. The film is being produced by Roy Lee (“The Departed”), Michael Tadross (“Gangster Squad,” “Sherlock Holmes”), and Brooklyn Weaver (executive producer, upcoming “Out of the Furnace”), with John Powers Middleton (TV’s “Bates Motel”) serving as executive producer.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Martin Ruhe (“The American”), production designer Sharon Seymour (“Argo”), Oscar®-nominated editor Craig McKay (“The Silence of the Lambs”), and costume designer Cat Thomas (“The Heat”).

“Run All Night” will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Paramount and WWE Unite to Promote Two Dwayne Johnson Films

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND WWE® TEAM UP FOR “G.I. JOE: RETALIATION” AND “PAIN & GAIN” PROMOTION

Hollywood, CA AND Stamford, Conn. – February 19, 2013 – Paramount Pictures and WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced a promotional partnership to support Paramount’s upcoming feature film releases, G.I. JOE: RETALIATION and PAIN & GAIN. The cross-platform partnership includes integration opportunities on WWE programming at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event as well as appearances by film star and WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson on Monday Night Raw® and WrestleMania® 29. In addition to storyline integration on its TV broadcasts, WWE will utilize all of its assets, including live events, digital and social media to promote the films and engage millions of fans each week.

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION is a co-presenting partner of Elimination Chamber with integration during the pay-per-view as well as storyline integration with stars D.J. Cotrona and Adrianne Palicki on Monday Night Raw on USA Network, leading up to the film’s release on March 29.

In the sequel to the 2009 release of G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, which grossed more than $300 million worldwide, the G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra, they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence. Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) and Skydance Productions present in association with Hasbro. G.I. JOE: RETALIATION stars D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Elodie Yung, Channing Tatum with Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson. Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Brian Goldner. Based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe® characters. Written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick and directed by Jon M. Chu. G.I. JOE: RETALIATION is in theaters everywhere March 29.

PAIN & GAIN will have a major presence at WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, April 7, and at WrestleMania Axxess, a four-day interactive WWE fan experience at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., from Thursday, April 4 to Sunday, April 7.

From acclaimed director Michael Bay comes PAIN & GAIN, a new action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie, based on the unbelievable true story of three personal trainers in 1990s Miami, who, in pursuit of the American Dream, get caught up in a criminal enterprise that goes horribly wrong. Ed Harris, Tony Shalhoub, Rob Corddry, Rebel Wilson and Bar Paly also star. Produced by Donald De Line, Michael Bay and Ian Bryce. Based on the Magazine Articles by Pete Collins. Screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. Directed by Michael Bay. PAIN & GAIN opens in theaters everywhere April 26.


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, ParamountVantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Famous Productions, ParamountHome Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.

Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.

Review: "A History of Violence" is Really Violent (Happy B'day, David Cronenberg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 160 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


A History of Violence (2005)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – R for brutal violence, graphic sexuality, nudity, language, and some drug use
DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg
WRITER: Josh Olson (based upon the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke)
PRODUCERS: Chris Bender, JC Spink, and David Cronenberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Suschitzky
EDITOR: Ronald Sanders
Academy Award nominee

CRIME/DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of a thriller

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Ashton Holmes, Heidi Hayes, and Peter MacNeill

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a pillar of the community in a rural Indiana town where he owns a small business, Stall’s Diner, and lives a quiet live with his wife, Edie (Maria Bello), and their two children, Jack (Ashton Holmes) and Sarah (Heidi Hayes). But the Stalls’ lives are forever changed after Tom thwarts a violent attempted robbery at the diner and kills the two, armed robbers. Lauded as a hero by his fellow townsfolk and by the media, he captures the attention of a Philadelphia mobster, Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), and his henchmen who swear Tom is an old associate named Joey Cusack. It seems as if Fogarty wants Tom (or the man he swears is Joey) to tie up some loose ends…

In some ways, David Cronenberg’s new film, A History of Violence, is just like most violent crime dramas or action thrillers – the kind in which a man of few words tries to have a family and a peaceful life in a small town, but one day his violent history comes back to bite him on the ass. A good example of this sub-genre is the film noir (true) classic, Out of the Past with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas, or even Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Best Picture, Unforgiven. Like those two example of superb cinema, A History of Violence is contemplative. Where many directors would turn a movie crime drama into a hyper-kinetic music video, Cronenberg (who received a “Golden Palm” nomination at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for this film) is almost painterly.

Bodies that are shot or mortally wounded in some other manner don’t fly off screen, nor do they disappear once used like some throw away special effects. We see humans rather than objects with gun shot wounds and nearly destroyed faces struggling to hold onto life. Cronenberg makes sure we hear the death rattle and the raspy, distressed breathing. Violence, even when justified, isn’t clean and pretty; there are real world consequences, as when Jack Stall badly beats two tormenting bullies at his high school. Cronenberg shows us chunks of flesh and some how that makes everything so visceral and more real, or maybe not so surreal, ethereal, and unreal as film violence normally is.

The performances are a mixed bag. Ed Harris and William Hurt shine with malicious glee in small, kooky roles. Maria Bello is sometimes, annoying and shrill, as Edie Stall, and sometimes she has moments where she is as earthy and authentic as a working woman with a family. Peter MacNeill as Sheriff Sam Carney is believable as the small town lawman who is as steady in the face of big city thugs as he is when dealing with his own people.

Still, this material truly stands out because of Cronenberg. The concept is pedestrian (almost pitiful), but screenwriter Josh Olson punches it up by creating weirdo and oddball characters and giving them quirky lines. Ultimately, Cronenberg is the ringmaster, or master chef, if you will, who makes this tale of a small town hero, who must face the vile and violent horror of his past, something a little different from the rest. A History of Violence is about the consequences of the past, and it’s too smart for pat resolutions; that only makes it special.

7 of 10
B+

Thursday, October 20, 2005

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (William Hurt) and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Josh Olson)

2006 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Josh Olson)

2005 Cannes Film Festival: 1 nomination: “Palme d'Or” (David Cronenberg)

2006 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Maria Bello)

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Review: "Creepshow" is Still Fun (Happy B'day, George Romero)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 165 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Creepshow (1982)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
DIRECTOR: George A. Romero
WRITER: Stephen King (also partly based upon the short stories “The Crate” and “Weeds” by Stephen King)
PRODUCER: Richard P. Rubinstein
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Gornick
EDITORS: Pasquale Buba, Paul Hirsch, and Michael Spolan with George A. Romero (segment “The Tide”)

HORROR/COMEDY/SCI-FI/FANTASY

Starring: Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E.G. Marshall, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Harris, Ted Danson, Stephen King, Warner Shook, Robert Harper, Gaylen Ross, and Tom Savini with Tom Atkins

Inspired by the legendary E.C. horror comics of the 1950’s, director George A. Romero and international best-selling horror novelist Stephen King created the horror movie anthology, Creepshow. Five tales of terror: “Father’s Day,” “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,” “Something to Tide You Over,” “The Crate,” and “They’re Creeping Up on You,” make up the film, and a framing sequence (prologue/epilogue) bridges the five tales.

In “Father’s Day,” a family patriarch comes back from the grave (literally) on the seventh anniversary of his murder, by his daughter, Bedelia’s (Viveca Lindfors) hand, and he’s looking for his birthday cake. In “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, Jordy Verrill (Stephen King), a country bumpkin cursed by bad luck, finds a recently fallen meteor, and it affects shocking change upon Jordy’s body. In “Something to Tide You Over,” Richard Vickers (Leslie Nielsen) takes a gruesome revenge upon his wife Becky (Gaylen Ross) and her lover, Harry Wentworth (Ted Danson), but revenge is a two-way street and comes back from a watery grave for Richard.

In “The Crate,” Professor Henry Northrup (Hal Holbrook) takes advantage of a murderous ape-like beast found in a 150-year old crate to deal with his bestial nag of a wife, Wilma “Billie” Northrup (Adrienne Barbeau). In the closing tale, “They’re Creeping Up on You,” a wicked, wealthy man, Upson Pratt (E.G. Marshall) with a fear of germs and bugs gets his comeuppance when he goes against thousands of cockroaches.

Creepshow is delightful horror fun – a combination of thrills, chills, and cheese. Two of the tales, “Something to Tide You Over” and “The Crate” are excellent revenge tales, but all of the shorts capture the spirit of the old E.C. comics with their shock and surprise endings. Director George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead) and screenwriter Stephen King knew exactly what they were going for and how to get it. Makeup effects artist Tom Savini ably creates the gruesome denizens that make this film sparkle, and the production elements are the finishing touch in capturing the right look and mood.

6 of 10
B

Monday, October 31, 2005

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Review: "A Beautiful Mind" is Beautiful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 24 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Running time: 135 minutes (2 hours, 15 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense thematic material, sexual content and a scene of violence
DIRECTOR: Ron Howard
WRITER: Akiva Goldsman (based upon the book by Sylvia Nasar)
PRODUCERS: Brian Glazer and Ron Howard
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Deakins
EDITORS: Dan Hanley and Mike Hill
Academy Award winner

DRAMA with elements of mystery and romance

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Josh Lucas, Anthony Rapp, Jason Gray-Stanford, and Judd Hirsch

A Beautiful Mind is based upon the real life story of John Forbes Nash, Jr. (Russell Crowe), a math prodigy, who goes on to win the Nobel Prize after years of struggling with schizophrenia. The handsome and arrogant Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and also meets his wife Alicia (Jennifer Connelly). On the brink of international fame, his world falls apart when he succumbs to mental illness. With the help of his wife, he struggles to regain his career and his social life and to be a husband and father to his wife and child.

Directed by Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind is an engaging and riveting biopic that runs the gamut of emotions from elation to revulsion and from despair to hope. It is earnest and intense, playful and romantic, heartbreaking and life affirming. Not a biography in the art house mold, but a wonderful sort of middlebrow picture with a feel-good resolution for the masses, or at least those who are interested in Hollywood product that doesn’t involve SFX and titillation.

The artistry here is the performance of Russell Crowe. Increasingly a controversial figure hounded by the tabloids and infotainment news organizations, he has replaced Kevin Spacey as the actor of the moment. Here, he combines the best of his performances in The Insider (for which he earned an Academy Award nomination) and in Gladiator (for which he won an Academy Award) to portray John Nash – the paranoid hero of the former and the never-say-die leader of the latter. Since Romper Stomper, Crowe has been a mesmerizing screen presence, and he is at full wattage here.

He sells us on this movie, and we buy asking for more. When Nash is the shy boy, we yearn for him to get a woman. We thrill and laugh at Nash’s clumsy arrogance, and we enjoy his success. We cringe at his illness and hope against hope for his recovery. And who couldn’t, at least, almost shed tears when Nash’s peers and the Nobel committee honor him.

Ron Howard does good work here, and Ms. Connelly is pretty good as Alicia Nash, but this is Russell’s show, he can win the audience over. Since the twilight so-called Golden Age of studio pictures in Hollywood, there have been so few real, masculine men in movies. Some of them, post Golden Age are not great actors, and some that are, don’t have the box office draw. Crowe is all man, a fine actor, and a box office draw.

He’s an artist. He attracts the audience to Nash using every part of himself – in his gestures and the way he moves his body. We can believe Crowe is Nash in the way it seems that Crowe really loves mathematics. His face is a tapestry of emotions that are so convincing and so important to selling the scene, so layered and three-dimensional that were transported into the movie. We live and suffer vicariously with Crowe’s Nash.

For the haters out there, the best is yet to come. Things about the real Nash’s past that were left out of this film don’t matter one wit in respect to Crowe’s amazing performance. No disrespect to his collaborators, but A Beautiful Mind is all his.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2002 Academy Awards: 4 wins: “Best Picture” (Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Jennifer Connelly), “Best Director” (Ron Howard), and “Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published” (Akiva Goldsman); 4 nominations: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe), “Best Editing” (Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley), “Best Makeup” (Greg Cannom and Colleen Callaghan), and “Best Music, Original Score” (James Horner)

2002 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Russell Crowe) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Jennifer Connelly); 3 nominations: “Best Film” (Brian Grazer and Ron Howard), “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Akiva Goldsman) and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Ron Howard)

2002 Golden Globes: 4 wins: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Russell Crowe), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jennifer Connelly), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Akiva Goldsman); 2 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Ron Howard) and “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (James Horner)

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Summit's "Man on a Ledge" Begins Principal Photography with Sam Worthington

Press release:

MAN ON A LEDGE Begins Principal Photography

Directed by Asger Leth and Starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Anthony Mackie, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, and Edward Burns for Summit Entertainment

NEW YORK, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Principal photography has begun in New York City on the Summit Entertainment feature Man On A Ledge.

An ex-cop and now wanted fugitive (Sam Worthington) stands on the ledge of a high-rise building while a hard-living New York Police Department hostage negotiator (Elizabeth Banks) tries to talk him down. The longer they are on the ledge, the more she realizes that he might have an ulterior objective.

Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Elizabeth Banks (The Next Three Days) star among an ensemble cast including Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), who portrays Worthington's best friend and ally and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) who is Worthington's younger brother and ardent supporter. Also along for the ride is four-time Oscar® nominee, Ed Harris (Pollock) who plays a powerful businessman, while Edward Burns (27 Dresses) is a rival negotiator who tries to swoop in when he believes Banks has a conflict of interest. Newcomer Genesis Rodriguez (Casa di me Padre) plays Bell's girlfriend who along with Bell, tries to prove Worthington's innocence.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura stated, "MAN ON A LEDGE is an incredible suspense thriller with a powerhouse cast. I look forward to producing this project and once again working with Summit Entertainment with which we just released the action comedy RED."

Man on a Ledge is directed by Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cite Soleil), from an original screenplay written by Pablo F. Fenjves ("The Affair") and Erich Hoeber & Jon Hoeber, and is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian (Transformers & Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). Executive Producers are David Ready (Red) and Jake Myers (Red).

Paul Cameron (Man on Fire) is the Director of Photography and the Production Designer is Alec Hammond (Red). Kevin Stitt (X-Men) is the Editor and Susan Lyall (Red) serves as Costume Designer.


About Summit Entertainment LLC
Summit Entertainment is a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio. The studio handles all aspects of marketing and distribution for both its own internally developed motion pictures as well as acquired pictures. Summit Entertainment, LLC also represents international sales for both its own slate and third party product. Summit Entertainment, LLC releases 10 to 12 films on average annually.

Review: "Gone Baby Gone" Superb Directorial Debut for Ben Affleck

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, drug content, and pervasive language
DIRECTOR: Ben Affleck
WRITERS: Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard (from the novel by Dennis Lehane)
PRODUCERS: Ben Affleck, Sean Bailey, Alan Ladd, Jr., and Danton Rissner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Toll (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: William Goldenburg
2008 Academy Award nominee

CRIME/DRAMA/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Amy Ryan, Amy Madigan, Titus Welliver, Michael K. Williams, Edi Gathegi, and Madeline O’Brien

Like Martin Scorsese did before him in 1973 with Mean Streets, Ben Affleck visits the tough streets of a city in which he’s familiar, Boston, for his film Gone Baby Gone, based upon a Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) novel. There Affleck tells a harrowing tale of shocking crime, brutal violence, and ultimate betrayal set in the seedy underbelly of a lower working class neighborhood.

Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), two young private detectives, are hired by grieving aunt, Beatrice “Bea” McCready (Amy Madigan), to take a closer look into the disappearance of her niece, a little girl named Amanda (Madeline O’Brien). Capt. Patrick Doyle (Morgan Freeman), the head of the investigation, and the two senior detectives, Det. Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Det. Nick Poole (John Ashton), aren’t happy about Bea and her husband, Lionel McCready (Titus Welliver), bringing in Kenzie and Gennaro, whose specialty is finding missing debtors.

Patrick and Angie take their investigations to the extra mean streets of the Boston neighborhood where the major players, including themselves, live. Patrick and Angie soon trace the child’s disappearance to some kind of deal gone bad involving her mother, a loud and vulgar drug addict/alcoholic named Helene McCready (Amy Ryan, in an Oscar nominated role). Ultimately, Kenzie finds himself risking everything, including his relationship with Gennaro, their sanity and lives, to find Amanda. Nothing is what it seems, and the case is vastly complicated.

If Ben Affleck was known as a pretty boy actor who made bad career choices, now he’s known as an up and coming director to watch. Gone Baby Gone, which Affleck also co-wrote with Aaron Stockard, is a sharp, edgy and morally ambiguous tale. The detective angle of the story is certainly a piece of pulp crackerjack that is as sweet and bitter as dark chocolate, but also as addictive as faerie food. Once you bite into Affleck’s beautiful/accursed confection, you will never leave it, and it won’t leave you.

That’s because the heart of Gone Baby Gone is so frighteningly familiar to viewers – the unsettling notion of a small child stolen by a monstrous human who savages, violates, and ultimately destroys a young life by murder or psychological ruin. However, novelist Dennis Lehane’s tale takes you to even darker regions below the surface of this familiar scenario, and Affleck doesn’t shy from visualizing the story into a film that goes for the vulnerable places on your body and in your mind. It’s the place where the self-righteous find that not only is the road to damnation paved with good intentions but that their justifications make them as bad as the worse people.

Ben Affleck also found his film gifted with a number of high quality performances, including some from Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Amy Madigan, among others. The stand outs are the director’s brother, Casey Affleck, and Amy Ryan. Affleck, playing the little tough guy, is a bubbling cauldron as he takes his Patrick Kenzie from the sweet guy who really cares to the tough guy/bad ass detective who can take on the most dangerous on mean street.

Amy Ryan is superb as Helene McCready. Simply put, the audience has no reason to believe that Helene is not a real-life breathing person with an ugly past, a pathetic present, and a loser future. Ryan makes you believe that Helene is both lost in an addictive personality and a totally lousy mother. This is the richness of Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2008 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Amy Ryan)

2008 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Amy Ryan)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

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Review: "Alamo Bay" is Powerful, But is Also Too Angry

 

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 138 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Alamo Bay (1985)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
DIRECTOR: Louis Malle
WRITER: Alice Arlen
PRODUCERS: Louis Malle and Vincent Malle
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Curtis Clark
EDITOR: James Bruce
COMPOSER: Ry Cooder

DRAMA

Starring: Amy Madigan, Ed Harris, Ho Nguyen, Donald Moffat, Truyen V. Tran, Rudy Young, Cynthia Carle, and Bill Thurman

When filmmakers tackle difficult subjects, especially subjects dealing with social and class conflict, they often produce films that fail financially or that get lost in the shuffle of the movie making industry. Louis Malle’s (Atlantic City) film, Alamo Bay, is just such a movie. It’s about a clash of two cultures and two different ethnic groups. When one doesn’t understand the other, when one feels threatened by the other, and when has no regard for or cannot understand the other, the result is violent confrontation. This conflict may seem to have an easy solution - a coming together of the two groups to talk through their differences, but the process to joining hands is long, strained, difficult, painful, and often unlikely. The film reflects the absence of an easy solution, so it can be painful to watch.

Shang (Ed Harris, The Right Stuff) is a Vietnam veteran despondent over loosing his livelihood as a shrimp fisherman when he cannot meet his boat payments. He and his fellow townsmen clash with the newly arrived refugees from Vietnam who move to their (fictional) town of Alamo Bay. The Vietnamese immigrants work harder and labor longer hours to catch shrimp. Shang and his cohorts see this as undercutting them. His old girlfriend, Glory (Amy Madigan, Places in the Heart), returns to Alamo Bay further complicates his life, as does her friendship with a newly arrived young immigrant, Dihn (Ho Nguyen).

Malle and screenwriter Alice Arlen don’t spare us the nasty words, ugly confrontations, and brutal bigotry the white townspeople unleash against the immigrants. What the movie sorely lacks is better view of the Vietnamese townsfolk – their feelings, their grudges, and their ethics. Very few of Vietnamese characters speak English in the film, and the Vietnamese dialogue in the film does not come with English subtitles. That does help to create a sense of the immigrants as the other, as well as convey the sense that they have a difficult time communicating with their hostile new neighbors who really don’t want to talk to them. Still, the film felt like it needed more interplay from the new arrivals, because as the film is, it’s mostly about whitey’s anger.

The entire cast is very good. They absorbed their characters without overplaying them. They seemed up to the task, but many of townsfolk were left with little room to maneuver outside of being cardboard bigots or victims. Madigan’s character has dimension, but she spends a lot of time crying and pining over her lost love with Chang and whining in general. Harris is the true star of this film; he passionately takes on his part, and in his eyes, the audience can read a novel’s worth of history and information on this man. Sadly, except for a few snippets, all we get is the angry bigot.

This film is built on anger, and although it gets the emotions and feelings correct, the story itself acts like an outsider, as if it just walked in on the bad situation in the town. It claims to be inspired by real events, but it only snatches up bit and pieces of the whole story. Powerful and visceral, it’s a noble attempt, but it could have been so much more.

6 of 10
B

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Review: God I Still Hate this Movie: "The Hours"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Hours (2002)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK/USA
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic elements, some disturbing images, and brief language
DIRECTOR: Stephen Daldry
WRITER: David Hare (based upon the novel by Michael Cunningham)
PRODUCERS: Scott Rudin and Robert Fox
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Seamus McGarvey (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter Boyle
COMPOSER: Philip Glass
Academy Award winner

DRAMA

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Ed Harris, Stephen Dillane, Miranda Richardson, John C. Reilly, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, and Jack Rovello

Director Stephen Daldry’s The Hours is one of those prestige, award season movies. It’s no secret that Hollywood, or the film industry, if you will, reserves films of a serious, meaningful, thoughtful, artistic nature for release during the last quarter of the year, especially late November and December. That is a late enough release so that the films will, hopefully, still be fresh in the minds of Oscar voters come January or February, whenever ballots are mailed to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

This is like a big bake off to impress Oscar voters. Studios trot out their best baked goods to tempt the appetites of those who might award them one faux gold statue called “Oscar,” or maybe two, or three or so on. In a way, these films are often as formulaic as the trash the studios trot out during the summer and winter vacation seasons. Oscar contenders are made of varying measuring spoons and cups of serious acting by acclaimed thespians, scripts from the best scribes adapting the most recent literary sensations, veteran directors pining after that Oscar that would define their careers, and, of course drama. Oh the drama, be it initiated by disease, murder, family conflict, or international strife, the drama is so important. Comedies hardly ever win Oscars, and Oscar treats science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery like bastard children.

What does that have to do with The Hours? The Hours is so painfully and obviously aimed at earning awards for its cast and crew that it can’t help but show all its tricks. Like a clueless magician, The Hours spoils the show by showing its hand too early.

The story revolves around three women of different eras, two of them affected by the works of the third woman, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman). From 1923 to 1941, Ms. Woolf lives in a small English country town at the behest of her doctor and her husband Leonard (Stephen Dillane) who feel London is bad for her unstable mental health. Ms. Woolf is working on her novel Mrs. Dalloway, a novel in which the story takes place over an entire day, but she’d really like to return to London social circles despite the fact that London eventually drives her wacky and makes her want to kill herself. In 1951, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), a pregnant housewife, is preoccupied with the novel Mrs. Dalloway and is contemplating suicide on her husband’s (John C. Reilly) birthday. In 2001, Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) is living the novel the day she is planning a party for her long time friend, Richard Brown (Ed Harris), a poet who is dying of AIDS. As the story unfolds, we see how the women and the events of three eras are inextricably linked.

First, there is a better Stephen Daldry film, the wonderful Billy Elliot. However, the acting is good. How can it not be, considering the film’s stellar cast? The problem is the material. It’s so morbid and moribund, so depressed and stilted. Yes, Ms. Streep can emote. Ms. Kidman is simply mesmerizing as Ms. Woolf. The material just didn’t hold my interest. Sometimes, I couldn’t wait to see what Virginia would do next, so good was Ms. Kidman in creating this fascinating creature; other times, I couldn’t wait for her tired ass to just disappear. To be honest, if Meryl Streep wasn’t so good at emoting, her character would have been an empty shell, merely a melancholy mannequin. It seemed as if she were just there only to look earnest and sad.

And, in the end, that’s the best way to describe this film – earnest, yet sad. Nothing happens beyond people being anxious and depressed. The grimaces, the smiles to hide the emotional exhaustion, the pangs of emptiness, the feelings of regret, the etc., there was good material; it’s just that what made it onto the screen could leaving you asking, “if you’re so sad, what’re you going to do about it?” The Hours is oh-so serious with an oh-so talented cast and oh-so serious artistic intentions. In those moments between the interesting moments and dreary tedium, I could only ask, “Oh, so what?” This movie does have many good moments, and if you’re a fan of the three leads, it’s certainly worth seeing just to watch the stars.

Maybe, someone needs to have lived a long life filled with the bitter and the sweet, with lots of regret, and with lots of life experience to appreciate this film. Maybe, The Hours is geared towards an older audience, an older female audience of a particular intellectual persuasion. I think the occasionally witty Virginia Woolf character would have made for a good film had the character not been relegated to a winsome creature mindlessly chasing self-destruction. Of course, death is part of life, but the life/death struggle doesn’t always make for a good movie.

5 of 10
C+

NOTE:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Nicole Kidman); 8 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Ed Harris), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Julianne Moore), “Best Costume Design” (Ann Roth), “Best Director,” (Stephen Daldry), “Best Editing” (Peter Boyle), “Best Music, Original Score” (Philip Glass), “Best Picture” (Scott Rudin and Robert Fox), and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (David Hare)


2003 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Philip Glass) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Nicole Kidman); 9 nominations: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Scott Rudin, Robert Fox, and Stephen Daldry), “BAFTA Film Award Best Editing” (Peter Boyle), “Best Film” (Scott Rudin and Robert Fox), “Best Make Up/Hair” (Ivana Primorac, Conor O'Sullivan, and Jo Allen). “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Ed Harris), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Meryl Streep), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Julianne Moore), “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (David Hare), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Stephen Daldry)


2003 Golden Globes: 2 wins “Best Motion Picture – Drama” “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Nicole Kidman); 5 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Stephen Daldry), “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Philip Glass), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Ed Harris), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Meryl Streep), “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (David Hare)

Ed Harris Headlines WWE Movie

Ed Harris to Star in WWE Studios’ “Big Red”


Amy Madigan and WWE® Superstar Randy Orton® Also Star in the Coming-of-Age Film

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WWE Studios announced today that award-winning actor Ed Harris (Pollock, “Apollo 13,” “The Truman Show”) will headline the cast of the (tentatively titled) film, “Big Red.” Chase Ellison (“Tooth Fairy”), Molly Parker (“Deadwood”), Daniel Roebuck (“Final Destination”), WWE Superstar Randy Orton, Mia Rose Frampton (“Make It or Break It”) and Amy Madigan (“Carnivale”) will also star in this family-friendly movie, scheduled to begin principal photography in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 23, 2010.

Set against the backdrop of the mid-sixties, “Big Red” is a coming-of-age story which follows 12-year-old Andy Nichol (CHASE ELLISON), a bright student whose English teacher, Mr. Simon (ED HARRIS), pairs him on a project with the school’s biggest outcast and social pariah, Stanley (aka “Big Red”). When Andy watches Stanley fearlessly confront a school bully, a series of events is unleashed, which changes the lives of both young men – and their teacher – forever.

WWE Studios Executive Vice President Mike Pavone will direct the drama from his original screenplay. “Big Red” is produced by Pavone and Denise Chamian. WWE Studios Vice President David Calloway is the executive in charge of production and the line producer is Todd Lewis.

Golden Globe-winning actor Ed Harris stars as Mr. Simon, a popular “Teacher of the Year” who finds himself the target of a vendetta when he makes sure the principal (AMY MADIGAN) suspends a school bully. A four-time Oscar nominee and SAG Award winner, Harris has distinguished himself as one of film’s most respected and talented actors in numerous popular and critically-acclaimed films, including: “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” “The Hours,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Enemy at the Gates,” “The Truman Show,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “A History of Violence,” “The Rock,” “Apollo 13,” “The Firm,” “Places in the Heart” and “The Right Stuff.” Harris also directed and starred in the title role of “Pollock,” for which he received an Oscar nomination for his performance. He also wrote, directed, produced and starred in the award-winning film adaptation, “Appaloosa.”

Chase Ellison plays Andy Nichol, a bright student unwillingly paired with the school’s biggest outcast, Stanley/ “Big Red” for an English term paper. Ellison’s film credits include “Tooth Fairy,” “Fireflies in the Garden,” ”End of the Spear,” “Wristcutters: A Love Story” and “Mysterious Skin.” His television credits include “Deadwood,” “Boomtown,” “Malcolm in the Middle” and as a regular on the daytime series, “The Young and the Restless” (Noah Newman).

Molly Parker, known to many for her role as Alma Garret on HBO’s “Deadwood,” portrays Andy’s mother, Sherri. Parker has been a regular or recurring character on several acclaimed television series including “Swingtown,” “Shattered,” “Six Feet Under,” “Twitch City” and “Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years.” Her film credits include “Hollywoodland,” “The Wicker Man” and “Wonderland.”

Daniel Roebuck plays Andy’s father, Jim. Roebuck has appeared in the films “The Fugitive,” “U.S. Marshalls,” “Final Destination,” “Rob Zombie’s Halloween,” “Agent Cody Banks,” “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London,” “Project X” and “Rivers Edge.” He has been a regular on numerous television series including “Lost,” “Woke Up Dead,” “Nash Bridges,” “Matlock,” “Capital News” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” He is also the writer, producer and director of the horror documentary series, “Monsterama.”

WWE Superstar Randy Orton portrays Ed Freel, the father of the bully reprimanded by Simon. When Freel’s son spreads a lie about Simon, Ed repeats the accusation and begins a campaign to get Simon fired. Since making his WWE debut in 2002, Orton has held the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship and the World Tag Championship. A third-generation WWE Superstar, Orton is the son of WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy Bob” Orton and the grandson of “The Big O,” the late Bob Orton, Sr.

Mia Rose Frampton has been cast as Mary Bell, the prettiest girl in the school, who is also known as the preeminent make-out artist of the eighth grade. Frampton, the daughter of Grammy Award-winning artist Peter Frampton, stars as Becca Keeler in the popular ABC television series, “Make It or Break It” about the training of Olympic hopefuls.

Golden Globe-winner Amy Madigan (“Roe v. Wade”) plays Principal Kelner, whose decision to suspend a school bully has devastating and unforeseen consequences. Madigan, familiar to many for her role as Annie Kinsella in the film, “Field of Dreams,” and Iris Crowe in the HBO series “Carnivale,” has received Oscar, Emmy and Independent Spirit Award nominations for her work in “Twice in a Lifetime,” “The Prince of Pennsylvania,” “Love Child” and “Loved.” Her film credits include “The Laramie Project,” “Pollock,” “With Friends Like These,” “The Dark Half,” “Uncle Buck,” “Alamo Bay,” “Places in the Heart” and “Streets of Fire.”

Writer-director-producer Pavone recently produced the family drama, “Legendary,” starring Patricia Clarkson, WWE Superstar John Cena® and Danny Glover, as well as the comedy “Knucklehead,” with Mark Feuerstein, Melora Hardin and WWE Superstar Paul “Big Show®” Wight. “Legendary” and “Knucklehead” are slated for theatrical release in late 2010.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly, PG content across all of its platforms including television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/. [END]