After being canned for three years (allegedly due to pressure from the Los Angeles police department) Brad Furman’s “City of Lies” was rolled out last month. Although it would have benefited from a longer running time and deeper examination into the facts (this story would shine as a three-hour street crime epic), Brad Furman’s procedural gets to the meat of the inquiry into the murders of the ... more >
ARCHIVES
“I lost my family for a case that I was just not able to close,” woes and the fracas of a big time L.A. police investigation in “City of Lies”
Film was in a holding pattern for three years
Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker and Toby Huss
Directed by Brad Furman
DOC: “Rising from Ashes”
[documentary]
Narrated by Forest Whitaker
Directed by T.C. Johnstone
Stasis is ignorance and mobility is enlightenment in T.C. Johnstone's "Rising From Ashes," a documentary about the Rwandan Olympic cycling team which uses the wheel of the bicycle as a metaphor for the way we live, learn, grow and co-exist amidst individual and systemic horrors. The team's coach, cycling legend Jonathan Boyer (referred to throughout as "Jock"), knows much about how to win a ... more >
Broken City
Move over, gangster squad
Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe
Directed by Allen Hughes
Every January Hollywood releases mostly third-rate action vehicles that have been sitting on the shelf awhile. "Broken City" appears to be an excuse to get Mark Wahlberg fans flocking to the cinema during a time when the Oscar-nominated indie pics are the main attraction. Surprisingly, though, it is a watchable thriller packed with endless twists that eventually work themselves out--the story as a ... more >
Repo Men
You're fired!
Jude Law, Forest Whitaker and Alice Braga
Directed by Miguel Sapochnik
Paris Hilton got there first but Jude Law proves this material is just as bad with an A-list actor. Based on Eric Garcia’s novel “Repossession Mambo” (and Hilton’s off-key musical “Repo: A Genetic Opera”), “Repo Men” (scripted by Garcia and Garrett Lerner) takes place in a not-too-distant future where bodily organs are scientifically created and sold for a hefty price. Law plays Remy, the man ... more >