Less a modern Western than an inside look at Hollywood’s fragile psychology, the film “The Magnificent Seven” is a lesson in the way that the movies think at the moment. It’s an encouraging thing, and a more honest historical assessment, to re-create an Old West posse with minorities in major roles. It’s another thing to be so perfectly, comically and distractingly fancied up with diversity that a ... more >
ARCHIVES
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
More seven than magnificent
Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Vincent D'Onofrio
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Flight
How a well-worn yarn turned out this time
Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle and Kelly Reilly
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
In "Flight," for which he collaborates with director Robert Zemeckis for the first time, Denzel Washington combines the skills of a pilot-ninja with the substance abuse problems of a Lindsay Lohan. Clearly the director and the actor working together make for great chemistry thanks to their respective skill sets) and yet, “Flight” leaves you wishing for more. Washington's Captain Whip Whitaker ... more >
Unstoppable
How do you stop a mile-long freight train again?
Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson
Directed by Tony Scott
I loved "Unstoppable." Every improbable, electric minute of Tony Scott’s runaway train movie, its ludicrous start. I loved its “why didn’t they do that in the first place? Because then we wouldn’t have a movie” ending. Most of all, though, I loved the fact that it’s red meat for the Great Tony Scott debate, ie., is he a cinematic genius or a cinematic vandal? "Unstoppable" returns Scott to ... more >
The book of Eli
To exercise control over the masses
Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Ray Stevenson
Directed by the Hughes Brothers
Denzel Washington vs. Gary Oldman sounded like a quality action flick. Plus, throw in the style of the Hughes brothers (where have these guys been since doing "From Hell"?) and it’s all the more reason to see Book of Eli. Only despite Washington bringing a bad-ass gravitas, Oldman chewing scenery, and the Hughes giving the film the mandatory dreary look of an apocalyptic world, Garry Whitta’s ... more >
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
[rating=2] There are two going theories about Tony Scott: the first is that he’s the world’s most offensive hack action director, polluting the cinema with shallow flash and dismal MTV tendencies only to produce generic action drivel. The second view – held by approximately nine of us, warmed at night only by the virtue of being right – is that Scott has evolved into a classical auteur, a ... more >