Calling a film Flawless
is certainly asking for it to live up to a lot. I think it was Glenn Kenny, of Premiere, that recently brought this up in regards to another film with a similar name. He was implying that critics sharpen their knives when confronted with a name like that. And a recent survey of some of the titles of the reviews for this bank heist movie confirms Mr. Kenny's theory. Of course, if you're Michael Radford (Il Postino
), the director, wouldn't you do your best to avoid any such attacks by excising any potential pitfalls from your film?
is the third time that a film is adapted from Richard Matheson's 
of the same name. The first adaptation was an obscure Italian B-movie, 
, starring the great Vincent Price. The second was the cult classic 
starring Charlton Heston during his sci-fi period. Legend, starring Will Smith, is directed by the promising Francis Lawrence, an experienced music video director, making his second foray into films. His debut feature was 
, another genre adaptation - based on the Hellblazer graphic novel series.
, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. It is the Johnny Cash biopic directed by James Mangold (
) which stars Joaquin Phoenix, as the Man in Black himself, and Reese Witherspoon, in her Oscar-winning performance, as June Carter-Cash.
, the humans had finally outrun their Cylon pursuers. The remains of the human race found a habitable world, which they called New Caprica (after their now-dead homeworld), on which to settle. The story then took a leap forward of approximately one year. Most of the humans had moved to the new planet, leaving the battlestars, Galactica and Pegasus, circling high above, with skeleton crews, in case the Cylons returned. Return they did, but not with violence as expected. Instead, they preached coexistence. But our crew knew that this was really a Cylon occupation that would control almost the entire human race. The crews on the undermanned battlestars knew they must retreat. And on the planet below, in the final moments of the finale, a resistance was born.
winning Best Picture at the Oscars this year. You've heard about the crafty Coen Brothers finally getting the praise they're long overdue. Javier Bardem has been all over the place campaigning for his Oscar... blah, blah, blah. But I thought that with the film being released on DVD last week, we'd sing the praises of some of its relatively unsung heroes.
of the same name, 
seemed to fit the bill.
, Brian De Palma's latest film, was released on DVD last month. It is loosely based on a real incident that took place in Iraq in which a squad of American soldiers rape a teenage girl in retaliation for the death of a buddy of theirs. Edited in an interesting manner that utilizes various conventions such as first-person journalistic accounts, web-based anecdotal supplements, and third-person documentary coverage, it is told with visual flair. Unfortunately, the immediacy that this technique delivers is undone by mannered performances and stilted dialogue.
) Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen. 
is scheduled to be released exactly one year from today.
, is languishing in the On Demand sector rather than getting major distribution in theaters or even on DVD.
, 
, and 
, he quickly made the transition to director. With 
(1970), he was called upon to co-direct with the movie's writer Donald Cammell. This film is the first to feature his now oft-imitated non-linear techniques in storytelling. Though the movie faced some controversy due to its explicit sexuality (a recurring issue in Roeg's career), it propelled him to early success.
