CAST AWAY – Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt
Cast Away (2000)
Direction: Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay: William Broyles Jr.
Cast: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Lari White
Many will see Cast Away as a celebration of the triumph of the human spirit. Others will prefer the more mundane explanation that the film merely depicts a man following his animal survival instincts, which propel him to remain alive almost against his will. Whichever way one chooses to view the survival of Tom Hanks‘ Federal Express engineer Chuck Noland (No-land, get it?) after being stranded for years on a desert island (mostly shot in Monuriki, Fiji), Cast Away is little more than an elaborate star vehicle disguised as an existential adventure film. Indeed, this Robert Zemeckis production offers little depth in its presentation of [...]
by Andre Soares | October 29, 2004
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Tags: Adventure Movies, Cast Away, Film Reviews, Helen Hunt, Lari White, Oscar 2000, Oscar Movies, Robert Zemeckis, Romantic Movies, Tom Hanks
THE CONTENDER – Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges
The Contender (2000)
Direction and screenplay: Rod Lurie
Cast: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott, William L. Petersen, Saul Rubinek, Philip Baker Hall, Robin Thomas, Mike Binder, Mariel Hemingway, Kathryn Morris, Kristen Shaw
THE POLITICIANS’ HOUR
"Principles only mean anything when we stick by them when they’re inconvenient," says Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) in Rod Lurie’s political thriller The Contender. She should know. In that film, the poor Democratic senator is grilled by a Republican inquisitor with a bad hairdo (a venom-spitting Gary Oldman) who wants to prevent at all costs her being confirmed as the next Vice President of the United States. Even if that means destroying Hanson’s political career by making public the senator’s alleged participation [...]
by Andre Soares | October 27, 2004
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Tags: Film Reviews, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Oscar 2000, Oscar Movies, Political Movies, Rod Lurie, Sex, The Contender
WONDER BOYS – Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire
Wonder Boys (2000)
Director: Curtis Hanson
Screenplay: Steve Kloves, from Michael Chabon’s novel
Cast: Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr., Katie Holmes, Rip Torn, Richard Thomas, Michael Cavadias, George Grizzard
SCREWBALL REDUX
A brilliant young writer (Tobey Maguire) who happens to be both a pathological liar (probably not a coincidence) and obsessed with celebrity suicides. A flamboyant bisexual literary editor (Robert Downey Jr.) who can’t tell the difference between a ten-feet-tall transvestite and a woman. A pothead English professor (Michael Douglas) with so little sense of ethics that he has the gall to be upset when his wife leaves him, even though he has been having an affair with his boss’ wife.
Add to that mix a pompous successful writer, an [...]
by Andre Soares | October 17, 2004
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Tags: Curtis Hanson, Film Reviews, Frances McDormand, Gay Interest, Katie Holmes, Michael Douglas, Oscar 2000, Oscar Movies, Robert Downey Jr, Steven Kloves, Tobey Maguire, Wonder Boys
