 Much like the title character, the film ‘Jack Reacher’ gets in, does its job, and gets out. Tom Cruise’s potential new franchise is a decidedly low tech detective story that offers audiences some old school entertainment. It’s hardly original, but I’m pretty sure that’s intentional on the part of Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. They know the kind of movie this is, and in adapting Lee Child’s popular series of books about the title character, they seem to have effectively achieved their goals. Cruise is sufficiently charismatic and carries the movie from an acting standpoint, while McQuarrie plays around with the tone a little more than you’d expect. Paramount seems to be confident in this as a new franchise for Cruise (despite having a review embargo in place until opening day, normally the sign of a film with something to hide), and I think they’ve got a winning formula in place. I can see this flick playing on TV for the next decade, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s never revolutionary and does have its problems, but for pure entertainment this is a solid holiday outing at the movies. If you like action movies starring Cruise, this is another one to check out…
Read more on Jack Reacher (***)…
Tom Cruise stars as the title character in Jack Reacher, an action film that on the surface appears to steal the best parts of Drive, the Bourne films, and Taken. The most attractive element of Christopher McQuarrie’s (The Usual Suspects) thriller (aside from Rosamund Pike co-starring) might be seeing legendary documentarian Werner Herzog as the villain. Robert Duvall and Richard Jenkins add to a pretty interesting cast, but I have my reservations on the film working after watching this trailer. Jack Reacher opens December 21st. Watch the trailer after the jump.
Read more on New Trailer for Tom Cruise Action Film ‘Jack Reacher’…
 This year’s race for the Academy Award for Best Actor will have no shortage of worthy nominees; in fact I daresay they could nominate five worthy actors right now. However there are still many more performances to be unveiled, work that will end up in the category, work that will not, disappointing audiences, the Academy and critics. Already I think we have seen a preview of that, though Clay might disagree in Bill Murray’s highly touted work in Hyde Park on Hudson, which after seeing at TIFF I felt would slowly drop out of sight and out of contention. The film’s reception at Telluride was weak, and in Toronto the same thing happened, with a rather shocked audience filing out mumbling about the disappointment they were feeling. I have stated already, Murray is never bad, weak or anything remotely negative, just not strong enough to be an Academy Award nominee. It is merely a good performance and lined up alongside the ones I think have a chance so far, it looks oddly out of place, which of course means nothing. Read more on Lead Actor Overstuffed…
Categories: Article Tags: Anthony Hopkins, Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, Burt Lancaster, Cannes, Cannes Best, Christopher Walken, Cinema of the United States, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Director nomination, Dustin Hoffman, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Flight, François Cluzet, Good Will Hunting, Hugh Jackman, Jack Nicholson, jamie foxx, Jean-Louis Trintignant, John Hawkes, Kirk Douglas, Lancaster, legendary director, Liam Neeson, Mads Mikkelsen, Matt Damon, Michael Shannon, Movie Release, Omar Sy, Oscar, Oscars, Peter Fonda, Pilot, powerful actor, President, Promised Land, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Kuklinski, Richard Nixon, robert duvall, Robert Zemeckis, serious actor, the Academy Award, the Oscars, The Polar Express, Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival, United States
Naomi Watts stars in “The Impossible” premiering at TIFF….
Having gone through the announced films with a fine tooth comb I have come up with a list of twenty must sees, the films that will have absolute priority over everything else for at TIFF. That is not to say I will not venture into other movies, I most certainly will, but for now, the twenty discussed within are the films I am making it my mission in life to see first. Understand that the schedules have not yet been made available to the press so there will undoubtedly be overlaps in the screenings, meaning getting a ticket from the TIFF folks or speaking with the film’s publicist to land a seat. They are always helpful to me, always have been, so no problems are foreseen. And of course there are the festivals pre-screenings, which are held ten days before the start of the festival allowing press to see films that are going to be an issue because of their schedule, or in the case of the TV critics, because they will be interviewing. I so do not miss those days, being on television, listening to the producers go to war for interviews, scrambling at the last minute because they have given to us, just a nightmare. There was a time when seeing forty to forty five films was not out of the question, but by the end of the festival my brain was mush and the stories began to run together. I learned to pace myself. Of course my accident in 2001 cut down on the number of films I can see from a sheer physical stand point. Thirty to thirty five is the goal, though twenty eight is where I usually end up. Consider as well, if I am interviewing I need to give up a film here and there, and I hate that. For me TIFF is all about the films…period. That said, if the chance arises to interview some of the major players, I will be there, as always. I have to admit I am getting excited about TIFF. As the days slip past and it comes time for my girls to go back to school, I realize the festival is upon me. Different this year, very different, is Sherri is not here to share it with me. She would bring the girls into the city for the weekend, and though we did not see much of one another, we made it a point to have dinner and coffee together, and I always woke her when I got in. I will miss that. Ariana will be with me that first weekend, swimming and hanging out at the pool, and that will be cool for her, as she loves hotel life. She has never been to a GALA so I will take her to see The Silver Lining Playbook this year, as she adores Jennifer Lawrence.
So for fun, to let you know what I am planning to see at TIFF here’s the top twenty. Read more on Top Twenty Must-See at Toronto…
Categories: Article Tags: Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Billy Bob Thornton, David O. Russell, Helen Hunt, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Lawrence, Joe Wright, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, kristen stewart, La Vie En Rose, Laura Linney, Lee Daniels, Lincoln, Marion Cotillard, Michael Shannon, Ralph Fiennes, Richard Kuklinski, robert duvall, Robert Redford, Spike Lee, Terence Malick, tom hanks, Tommy Lee Jones, Walter Salles
 The movie had not gotten a great deal of press coming into the festival, in fact, very few people had actually seen it. The festival programmer for sure had seen the film, and later I learned that Francis Ford Coppola had screened it for his friend, offering some advice. Part way through the picture I knew two things, the first it was going to be a tough sell, the second, the performance within was among the greatest in film history. It came into the festival with no real heat, but when the film festival ended, everyone was talking about The Apostle (1997). Rarely had a film so exploded out of the festival’s ten day run, going from unknown to the single most discussed movie of the event. Read more on TIFF Golden Moments…
 “Why should I be a footnote to someone else’s life” – Martha Gellhorn.
Thanks to Nicole Kidman’s headstrong, passionate, and balls-to-the-wall performance as famed war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn — more recognized in history as the third wife of Ernest Hemingway — I doubt Gellhorn will ever be regarded as a footnote again. The title of HBO Film’s newest made-for-TV movie is incredibly deceptive, but perhaps purposefully so. We expect both Hemingway and Gellhorn to equally be front and center in this biopic of sorts, but it’s Gellhorn who fills up two thirds of on-screen time. Therefore, a title such as Gellhorn & Hemingway, or just Gellhorn, would have been more appropriate if we’re speaking strictly about which actor/character was featured more prominently. In fact, Nicole Kidman’s revelatory portrayal of Gellhorn is so wonderfully perfect and convincing that I can almost forgive director Philip Kaufman’s sloppily executed war biopic. To add bigger insult to injury, Clive Owen brings forth an uninteresting, drunkard, plight of a man with his role as Hemingway, making him seem more of a James Bond-esque anti-hero that met too many shaken, not stirred martinis he lost battle after battle with. Those looking for a Clive Owen comeback might be disappointed in Clive’s approach to the enigma that is Ernest Hemingway. Corey Stoll, as invisible as his performance may have been in Midnight in Paris, does a finer job illuminating Hemingway’s brilliance underneath an anchoring psychosis. Having never read or heard of Ernest Hemingway, one may not comprehend the legendary status surrounding the 20th century’s most prolific writer if you only had Clive Owen’s portrayal to go by. Hemingway may be surrounded by various intellectuals in Hemingway & Gellhorn, but neither Kauffman nor Owen seem to care about Hemingway’s own intelligence factor. Brilliance may be within Hemingway, but to an audience viewing Hemingway & Gellhorn, it remains ever illusive. Read more on TV Review: Hemingway & Gellhorn (**½)…
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