House Of Sand and Fog

A Heartbreaking and Stunning "House" of Emotions!
With the exception of Niki Caro's sublime "Whale Rider," no movie moved me more this past year than Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog." This story of a broken and desperate young woman who loses her house because her depression won't allow her to simply open her mail and the determined and steadfast Iranian colonel who strives to secure a better life and future for his family is a cacophony of raw emotion and heartbreak. Further, it is a meditation on what is important in life and how easy it is--no matter the intentions--to forget that very thing.

This is a movie that is well photographed, beautifully adapted from Andre Dubus III's Oprah-approved novel of the same name and stunningly helmed by first time feature director Perelman. But "House" is a film that is anchored by its performances. There is hardly a false note in the acting (Ron Eldard occasionally seems overwhelmed by the powerhouse actors who surround him, however his work is still convincing). Jennifer...

WHEW!!! One of the year's best without a doubt!!!
This is an emotionally wrenching movie...utterly fascinating and devastating. Some critics have blasted the movie for having an over-the-top or far-fetched ending. The ending is quite devastating, but it is totally convincing and earns its "tragedy" the old fashioned way...by making us care VERY much for the characters.

You probably know the basic plot. Jennifer Connolly, a recovering addict who is still in deep depression, has ignored pleas to pay taxes on the home she inherited from her father, and is suddenly evicted with no place to go. The house is bought by Iranian emigree (and former colonel and confidant of the Shah) Ben Kingsley, as a way of bringing his family a little closer to the American dream.

Kingsley has no idea the circumstances under which Connolly loses her house...he's got things pretty rough himself. Some early scenes in the movie beautifully show the dignity with which Kingsley endures two horrible jobs...working on a road crew and in a convenience store...

Welcome to Heartbreak Hotel, er, House...
You may have never heard of "House of Sand and Fog" as it went over the heads of mainstream audiences as quiet and transparent as the fog itself. But it is worth an extra squabble or two to hunt and experience this movie playing in very limited theaters near you (it is available on DVD right now). Based on a book with the same name by Andre Dubus III, picked by Oprah as her book club selection, this is a very powerful albeit depressing movie that will greatly satisfy those who are craving for an antidote for the usual fun and safe movies. This is a "feel bad" movie, not a "feel good" one, that will leave you very angry and miserable for days to come. Yet, you choose to, because that is exactly the point. The ugly side of human nature is not a pretty thing.

Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley) is a former colonel in the service of Iranian Shah who fled from his country with his wife Nadi, a seemingly spoiled yet very kind woman, and his son Esmail to America. As an immigrant, now...

Click to Editorial Reviews

King Me

Sports with an underlying theme
While the movie focuses on Checkers (or Draughts as some parts of the world call it I learned), there is an underlying and strong message about societal divides. The apartheid which ended not long ago in South Africa still has deep effects on the population, and you see it first hand in this excellent documentary. The biggest question it brings up for me is how much do we help those who need it? I think the answer provided, which is a good one, is that if you give someone a boost, they will do the rest! A great movie!





Click to Editorial Reviews

Pretty Dead [HD]

Real acting in a surreal situation
So often, scary movies are undone by their campy acting, which undermine a situation that could be truly terrifying...But in this movie, directed by a new filmmaker who clearly understands the genre, we get real human emotion in a surreal setting. Carly Oates brings a girl-next-door sweetness and vulnerability, which immediately makes us root for her, worry for her, and scream for her. Romance and Fear have never been so cleverly intertwined.

Almost Dead, Not Quite Dead, Nearly Dead...Pretty Dead
I have to say this movie was original, well executed, entertaining, suspensful and one of the best I've seen this year. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it didn't lose me for a moment. Given the actors, supporting cast and director have no other films to their credit - I must say...WELL DONE, YOU ALL PULLED IT OFF. What's more, you've pulled it off without a hitch and made something here that will probably change your lives. A new kind of horror flick & I loved it! Please can we have more? Don't miss this one, people will be talking and you'll be left out!

This is a awesome film and Carly is a star to watch
This film made the Wicked Channel Top 5 last year and with good reason, it is a really cool take on both found footage films and zombies. Carly comes across as a star, and the film really is smart and gives us a unique taste of horror. This is not a must watch, this is a should be watching.....wickedchannel.com

Click to Editorial Reviews

Warrior

This War Is Not in an MMA Cage
Except for the lack of a SPOILER note at the beginning of the first reviewer, I think these first two reviews pretty much cover the story and hit some high points of the film. I do want to disagree with some of the remarks, though.

First, I would not call this a sports movie. It is not Rocky, Raging Bull, The Wrestler, or The Fighter. Warrior, according to many professional critics, is better than all of them, and I agree. There is the suspense factor of who will win the championship fight, for sure, and the stand-up-and-cheer factor as the opponents are picked off one by one, and there is the heartwarming factor as the school teacher tries to save his home from foreclosure. These cliches somehow are not relevant to this film and I salute O'Connor and the other writers for telling a story that glosses over them.

As some reviewers have pointed out, this film is not really about MMA (mixed martial arts) winners and losers. Like others, I had never heard of MMA...

Best sports film I have ever seen
I went to an advanced screening (my first) and I must feel the need to brag about how lucky I was to see it a week before everyone else has. The film itself is......wow. There really aren't that many films that make you feel like you are actually living the life of another individual alongside that person or persons, but this film does! The writing is absolutely great and realistic, with the characters' dialogue ingraining itself in your memory for days to come. It also paints an amazing and provoking story. Tommy Riordan (Tom Hardy) is a war hero who has just returned from service and looks to enter a MMA tournament, the prize of which is $5 million. At first, it appears that the reason he is doing this is just for pure activity and for fun, but it is eventually revealed that he wants to donate his prize to support the wife and children of his slain war buddy. The man has got some raw talent, due to the fact that his father, Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) trained him in wrestling and...

Freaking Fantastic-A Must See!!!
I loved this movie! This is the best movie I have seen in a long time. Not only are the fight scenes incredibly exicting, but the family drama is very moving. I cried during this film more than once. I think I am a little in love with Tom Hardy now. Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton all gave Oscar Worthy performances.

Tommy (Hardy) and Brendan (Edgerton) are estranged brothers who both enter the same MMA Tournament. Tommy is an ex-Marine, an Iraq War hero, fighting for a fallen brother and Brendan is a married Physics Teacher fighting to keep a roof over his family's head. They have an ex-alcoholic, ex-abusive father that they both dislike who caused heartache and a terrible childhood for both of them. Their father, played by Nick Nolte (incredible performance)tries like hell to make it up to both of them and becomes Tommy's trainer. Their past mistakes and regrets all come to a head in the arena.

This is a beautiful and moving story about love and...

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Chronicles of Riddick - Unrated Director's Cut [HD]

Sometimes Bad Is Really, Really Good
My mind hasn't been boggled in a while -> The very first StarWars did me in, and then various parts of The Lord of the Ring years later. Other than that I'm not one who stares at the screen in awe of special effects. In fact, the bore me very quickly. What I likes about the original Riddick film, Pitch Black, was that, outside of the Alien knockoff monsters, there was very little in the way of large scale special effects. In many ways, it was an intimate thriller rather than a vast drama.

So I really wasn't prepared for what appeared on this screen as the film unrolled. It sneaks up on you as it opens with Riddick's attempted capture by Toombs, a bounty hunter. The irritated (and very hairy) Riddick sets out to find out who put the bounty on his head and discovers that he is being recruited to stop the conquest of space by the Necromongers. These latter are truly the knights of total badness. Their goal is entropy - the total destruction of life and rebirth onto...

You keep what you kill
Even if I have to apologize to my Friends and Favorites, and my family, I have to admit that I really liked this movie. It's a Sci-Fi movie with a "Mad Maxx" appeal that, while changing many things, left Riddick from `Pitch Black' to be just Riddick. They did not change his attitude or soften him up or bring him out of his original character, which was very pleasing to `Pitch Black' fans like myself.

First off, let me say that when playing the DVD, the first selection to come up is Convert or Fight, and no explanation of the choices. This confused me at first, so I will mention off the bat that they are simply different menu formats, that each menu has the very same options, simply different background visuals. Select either one and continue with the movie.

Chronicles Of Riddick takes place after Riddick's escape from the planet of monsters on Pitch Black, starting out with his recapture after being in hiding for many years. Now we are going to get a glimpse...

Critics and boring people SHOULD NOT SEE IT
The Chronicles of Riddick is the continuing story of Riddick (Vin Diesel), the bald-headed, night seeing convict who escaped from prison and was ultimately so tough that he could beat up aliens with just a knife. Given that the first movie was called Pitch Black, Riddick's peculiar eyes lent him a particular advantage - both against his captors and the aliens that inhabited the planet.

On the surface, one could summarize Pitch Black as an Aliens knockoff. But it was so much more than that. Just as Aliens was more than about soldiers blowing up aliens, Pitch Black was about how people hide behind who they really are and that people don't change - they just reveal their true natures. The movie was also noteworthy for being a science fiction film that portrayed Muslim beliefs in a positive light and as the dominant religion.

Keeping those elements in mind, the Chronicles of Riddick (TCOR) is the logical extension of the first movie, even though it doesn't involve many aliens or all...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Simply Irresistible

Sarah Michelle Gellar IS Irrisistible!
First of all let me say I am a HUGE Sarah fan, and this film has gotten bad reviews from alot of people. This is not a film for you if you are looking for action, if you are, don't get this, because you won't like it. If you like romantic dramas, you will definetly like this. This movie wasn't made expecting EVERYONE to fall head over heels in love with it, it was made for people who enjoy films like this. Sarah plays a young girl who has no parents, and she lives by herself, and she runs her mom's resturaunt with her aunt. When the resturaunt may have to close because rent can't be kept up, somehow, Sarah's character starts to make delicious, delectable, irrisistible food that everyone falls in love with. She meets this guy who is opening a resturaunt, and the film just flows out from there. It's a great film, and it's great for those who want to watch a good movie with their girlfriend or boyfriend or for someone who just wants a good Saturday night movie to chill and watch. Sarah...

Simply Magical
Simply Irresistible may not have done well in the box office, but that certainly doesn't mean that this film doesn't have any charm. Just because a movie doesn't find a proper following doesn't make it any less charming, in my opinion. Simply Irresistible is one of the best movies I've seen that hasn't had much viewership. It's fun, sweet, romantic, and just simply enjoyable all the way through.

This movie certainly boasts a top-notch cast that is led by the wonderful and amazing Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean Patrick Flanery. Amanda, played by Sarah Michelle, starts off as an awful chef but almost magically turns into a wonderful one overnight. She then begins falling in love with Tom, played by Sean Patrick, who is the owner of a popular department store.

Simply Irresistible tells a wonderful and romantic story of how scary falling in love can truly be and how wonderful it can be all at the same time. If you're in the mood for a light, romantic comedy, then I highly...

A Sweet Little Souffle of a Movie...
I rented this movie purely on the basis of a pretty charming little rave print review by Roger Ebert,and was glad I did (ended up even buying a copy on VHS for myself). The movie is slight and whimsical -- lots of magic, not a lot of gritty reality -- but it's sweet and strange and has a lot of charm. The characters are daffy and whimsically painted, and don't go the usual hollywood movie route. Gellar is sweet and insecure as the heroine -- a much less glamorous role than her weekly (equally fabulous) vampire slaying Buffy heroine -- while Buckley and Flanery and the fine supporting cast are all enjoyable to watch in the romantic mishaps that ensue. The wonderful Patricia Clarkson meanwhile is so much fun that she steals every scene she's in without detracting a bit from the appeal of her costars -- a pretty good trick (it's worth the price of admission to hear her say, "This is nutty. Hazel-nutty.").

I really loved this movie -- started out wondering...

Click to Editorial Reviews

J. Edgar

Choose one name and go by it...
A scene at a clothing store in which John Edgar Hoover is told he has bad credit finds him telling them that they are incorrect, they must be speaking of another John Hoover. They ask if he is indeed John Hoover and he says yes but adds that he signs his name different ways, not usually just plainly as John Hoover but with his middle name or E initial included (his mother did always call him Edgar). The shop owner then tells Hoover to open up a new account and sign it with one name and to go by that name. John takes the application form and writes J. Edgar Hoover.

To me this scene is symbollic of the larger film. J. Edgar Hoover is a film about a man who, like many of us, had many sides and aspects that composed who he was. He was greatly conflicted about which side he should portray publicly and stumbled rather awkwardly in his younger years, illustrated wonderfully in the film, until finally deciding that J. Edgar Hoover was who he was going to be. That was the side he...

Masterful, Thought Provoking, Dark, Emotionally Powerful
Clint Eastwood, Dustin Lance Black and Leonardo DiCaprio join forces to understand the 20th century's most admired, hated and controversial man, J. Edgar Hoover (with a tour de force performance by DiCaprio).

Let me first say that when I first heard of this project in the works I virtually knew very little about the F.B.I founder. I had however seen great depictions by actors like Bob Hoskins, Vincent Gardenia, Billy Crudup and more recently by Enrico Colantoni. All good performances without a doubt but only two dimensional portrayals. Here DiCaprio creates a 5th dimensional character that the audience can try to more or less understand.

The film spans nearly 50 years in the history timeline, jumping timeframe by time frame and creating a rich tapestry of political drama and turmoil in our nation's history. DiCaprio plays both the young, ambitious and advanced Hoover as well as the old, embittered czar whom all politicians feared by the 1950's.Armie Hammer plays...

The Recalcitrant Daffodil
J. EDGAR is a cinematic accomplishment of the first order! From the screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) as acted by a host of consummate actors and directed with extreme sensitivity by Clint Eastwood, the sum of the parts is an extraordinary achievement in presenting a portrait of one of the strangest men in history. The manner in which the life and deeds and personality are woven together presents as full an image of a man of contradictions, a man who planned to have his personal files destroyed after his death in order to maintain the iconic image he so desperately desired, is nothing short of a work of dedicated investigation on parts of everyone involved. And electing to tell this story through the ever-changing chameleon aspects of this bizarre man by shifting from youth to old age in a constant parenthetical manner was a stroke of genius.

The rise of young John Edgar Hoover from a mother-favored child, through the emotional conflicts this mother worship produced, through...

Click to Editorial Reviews