It is rare when a Hollywood thriller can glue us to our seats. These days, big budget films in this genre are too concerned with creating big action set-pieces meant to be eye candy, rather than crafting smart and interesting situations where the tension comes out of the moment and the characters. Therefore, the best thrillers usually come from the independent or the foreign film worlds. German ... more >
ARCHIVES
“7500,” there’s trouble brewing on the Berlin to Paris flight
When terrorists seize control of your plane
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Omid Memar and Aylin Tezel
Directed by Patrick Vollrath
Looper
One of our favorite sci-fi films this year
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis
Directed by Rian Johnson
In 2005 writer-director Rian Johnson made a memorable film called “Brick” which combined the private eye-crime noir genre with a high-school setting and made us start to wonder if Joseph Gordon Levitt was going to have a career past being the alien teenager on “3rd Rock from the Sun.” Now no one is wondering anymore as Levitt teams up again with the director for “Looper,” the year’s most ingenious ... more >
Toronto | OPENING DAY
Joseph Gordon-Levitt opens the fest
The Toronto Festival launched yesterday with Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on hand to promote “Looper,” screening out of competition (the fact that Gordon-Levitt, virtually unknown internationally, is first to walk the Toronto steps is noteworthy. Just when we thought Jeremy Renner was squarely in the leading-man chair, Gordon-Levitt swoops out of nowhere to steal the spotlight--good on ... more >
Singing in the new year
Zooey and Joe sing!
Actors Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the prom queen and king of independent cinema, got together recently for a Youtube-bound recording of "what are you doing New Years Eve?", a song originally written by singer-songwriter Nancy Wilson. During the languorous ballad Gordon-Levitt has a snoopy grin while Zooey's deep and troubled voice echoes some kind of long lost love. It all sounds ... more >
50/50
It takes a pair to beat the odds
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anna Kendrick, and Seth Rogen
Directed by Jonathan Levine
If you hear the movie press machine tell it, I’m supposed to come away from 50/50 talking about how it’s a new type of cancer movie: frank, funny, and unconventionally moving and based on the real-life cancer experiences of its screenwriter, Will Reiser. Instead, I left with a cool feeling toward the film’s misogyny, something that Seth Rogen’s presence often serves as a dog whistle for. ... more >
Elektra Luxx
Pillow talk like you've never seen before
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Carla Gugino and Ermahn Ospina
Directed by Sebastian Gutierrez
Elektra Luxx is infinitely worse than its predecessor, 2009's Women in Trouble, which was already pretty damn bad. But Sebastián Gutiérrez, writer and director of both films, is clearly blinded by delusions of relevance. Although virtually no one saw his first outing—no one, that is, except for critics earning money to see it, who in turn hated it—he's convinced that rehashing it will truly reveal ... more >