THE HURRICANE – Denzel Washington – d: Norman Jewison
The Hurricane (1999)
Direction: Norman Jewison
Screenplay: Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon; from Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter’s The 16th Round, and Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton’s Lazarus and the Hurricane
Cast: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber, John Hannah, Dan Hedaya, Debbi Morgan, Clancy Brown, Harris Yulin, David Paymer, Rod Steiger
Like Stanley Kramer, Norman Jewison has often been dedicated to commercial filmmaking with a socially conscious edge: labor relations in F.I.S.T.; corruption in the U.S. justice system in . . . And Justice for All; religious fanaticism in Agnes of God; anti-Semitism in Fiddler on the Roof; and racism in both A Soldier’s Story and the Academy Award-winning cop thriller In the Heat of the Night. Though never a [...]
by Andre Soares | December 9, 2004
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Tags: Biopic, Dan Hedaya, Deborah Kara Unger, Denzel Washington, Film Reviews, Liev Schreiber, Norman Jewison, Oscar 1999, Oscar Movies, Rod Steiger, Rubin Hurricane Carter, Socially Conscious Movies, The Hurricane, Vicellous Reon Shannon
TRAINING DAY – Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke
Training Day (2001)
Direction: Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay: David Ayer
Cast: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin, Macy Gray, Eva Mendes, Raymond J. Barry, Dr. Dre
Every few years, the Los Angeles Police Department gets embroiled in one scandal or other. The public is then told that the problem has been caused by a few bad apples; the system itself remains spotlessly clean. We get to taste quite a few of those bad apples in Training Day, a 2001 thriller that depicts a police culture embedded in corruption and violence. As such, the film could have become an early 21st-century Chinatown — a reflection of a city and a society so corrupt that nothing and no one are what they [...]
by Andre Soares | October 18, 2004
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Tags: Antoine Fuqua, Crime Movies, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Eva Mendes, Film Reviews, Macy Gray, Oscar 2001, Oscar Movies, Training Day
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE d: Jonathan Demme
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Direction: Jonathan Demme
Screenplay: Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris, from George Axelrod’s 1962 screenplay and Richard Condon’s 1959 novel
Cast: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Jon Voight, Jeffrey Wright, Kimberly Elise, Bruno Ganz, Ted Levine, Vera Farmiga, Miguel Ferrer, Dean Stockwell, Simon McBurney
While keeping the framework of the 1962 original, Jonathan Demme’s remake of John Frankenheimer’s political thriller The Manchurian Candidate has revamped the plot so as to create parallels between what takes place on-screen and current events. The results are mixed at best.
In the new version, adapted by Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris from George Axelrod’s 1962 screenplay and Richard Condon’s 1959 Cold War novel, U.S. Army Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington) [...]
by Andre Soares | September 17, 2004
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Tags: Bruno Ganz, Dean Stockwell, Denzel Washington, Film Reviews, John Frankenheimer, Jon Voight, Jonathan Demme, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Political Movies, The Manchurian Candidate
