Oren Moverman’s “Rampart” is absolutely fantastic. Top to bottom, it’s a considerable directorial achievement, and an exciting, brazen departure from his excellent 2009 debut, “The Messenger.” The film — from an original screenplay by James Ellroy, re-written by Moverman — uses the 1999 Los Angeles Police Department Rampart corruption scandal as a frame, a state […]
Moverman’s expressive ‘Rampart’ offers tour de force performance from Woody Harrelson
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:26 am · September 14th, 2011
HBO’s ‘Boardwalk Empire’ quenches thirst for good TV
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:07 pm · September 20th, 2010
Moving away from the big screen for a moment, I’ve been looking for a series to come along and take the place of “Deadwood” (RIP), and I think I may have found it. It’s not that HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” is immediately up to the genius level of David Milch’s series, but it absolutely showcases the […]
Filed in: Daily
The Great Performances: 2001
Posted by John Foote · 6:23 pm · November 20th, 2009
In one of the weakest years in memory, not just for performances but for great films, 2001 saw Denzel Washington and Halle Berry knock “two birds out with one stone,” as the former declared on Oscar night, as two African Americans won the top acting prizes for the first time ever. And it was difficult […]
Filed in: Daily
The Great Performances: 1996
Posted by John Foote · 10:15 am · October 16th, 2009
1996 was an odd year, a year when the independent cinema dominated the weak product emerging out of Hollywood. I am going to confess right off the top of this article (as I have numerous times before) that I was not a fan of “The English Patient,” which for me remains one of the most […]
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REVIEW: “The Messenger” (***1/2)
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:38 pm · October 9th, 2009
There is a film that succeeds as a cerebral drama, concerned with the impact of war on the individual, free of the genre’s typical tropes and remarkably fresh as a result. And believe it or not, I’m not talking about “The Hurt Locker.” Of course, it is unfair to Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” to so […]
Filed in: Reviews
[Considers]
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:22 am · October 8th, 2009
For my money, one of the single greatest line deliveries ever:
Filed in: Daily
THE LISTS: Top 10 actors who need a nomination, stat!
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:16 am · October 21st, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, we invited you to submit ideas for our ‘The Lists’ feature, and, true to form, the suggestions came thick, fast and occasionally puzzling. (The Ten Best Bond Actors, for example, would require a couple of rather inventive entries. But hey, we like challenges.) As I was sifting through the suggestions […]