Film.com Movie Blog

Helen Mirren: Top Five / Bottom Five

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:32:00 PST

This year Helen Mirren played the tart-tongued, hardbitten newspaper boss of investigative journalist Russell Crowe in State of Play, but she's better known as an investigator herself -- Inspector Tennison in seven series of Prime Suspect murder mysteries. After decades of glory on the British stage wider fame came late to Mirren, but when she finally hit, she hit big. Who earns an Oscar at 60? And still looks sensational in a bathing suit? Here are her best and worst moments on-screen.

Top…

Michael Mann and the Art of the Close-Up

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:33:00 PST

Michael Mann likes to shoot a lot of footage. He will put the camera anywhere. Behind the back, behind the ear, he doesn't just want us to get inside the actors' heads, he wants us inside them. If he could, he'd suck us into their brains and spit us out onto the New Jersey turnpike two hours later. Watching the flawed but glorious Public Enemies, I savored Mann's shots, scooping them up like a kid's last few spoonfuls of Count Chocula.

Mann isn't the only guy who knows how to shoot a close-up,…

Pitch Meeting: Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:25:00 PST

Editor's Note: You know the conversation you often have with your friends that goes "How in the world did they decide to make this movie?" Well, we have it too. And using only the power of our imaginations we've decided to put you in the room for the process behind Did You Hear About the Morgans? Enjoy!

Director/writer Marc Lawrence, (the mastermind behind Music and Lyrics) is back in business. And also back for another roll in the rom-com hay: Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant. Stir them…

Ranking the Modern Disney Animations

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:49:00 PST

"Rank the modern Disney animations," Film.com told me, and I thought, Suckers. This'll be easy.

Turns out, not so much.

The first question is, What's a Disney film? Do you count Pixar films? I decided I would, because even though Pixar and Disney have been at each other's throats forever -- or at least until Disney outright bought Pixar in 2006 -- Pixar has partnered exclusively with The Mouse…

Review: The Road Is Brutal, but Is It Worth Taking?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:12:00 PST

"While the film is often thrilling and generally compelling, it doesn't have the poignance that it should."

The Road is 2009's entry in the Movies You Admire and Respect but Don't Ever Want to Watch Again Sweepstakes. You know going in that it's going to be bleak and somber; the question is whether it's also going to be profound and touching enough to compensate for that, to make you leave the theater thinking, "I've just seen a powerfully emotional work of art!" rather than…

Top-Notch Ninja Films

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:36:00 PST

Editor's Note: A big Film.com welcome to our newest writer, Jen Yamato! In honor of this week's wide release, Ninja Assassin, we let her take a stab at solid examples of Ninjutsu in cinema. Enjoy!

There's a reason Mr. Miyagi never taught Daniel-san about throwing stars or poisons: ninjutsu is not for nice boys. The black-clad, katana-wielding ninjas of lore were borne of civil wars and shady dealings, employed by feudal warlords to spy on, sabotage, and kill their enemies; in short, ninjas were…

Interview: Viggo Mortensen Talks The Road and The Hobbit

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:28:00 PST

Viggo Mortensen remains one of the most interesting actors working today. It's just too bad he doesn't work more often, which is, I think, largely attributable to his picky taste in roles. This month, Aragorn -- er, I mean Viggo -- finally returns to the big screen in director John Hillcoat's The Road, an emotionally taxing but beautiful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a Man (Mortensen) and a Boy (Kodi Smith-McPhee) trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic…

Eric's Bad Movies: On Deadly Ground (1994)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:29:00 PST

When the subject of Steven Seagal trivia comes up -- and one could argue that all Seagal-related matters qualify as "trivia" -- even a beginner knows the basics. His first film was Above the Law; he was married to Kelly LeBrock for a while; as the result of a gypsy curse his ponytail is the source of his power and he will die if it is ever cut off; etc. All of this is common knowledge. But do you know what film Seagal starred in that he also directed? I will tell you: On Deadly Ground.

Even if…

New Moon Rules the Box-Office Weekend

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:58:00 PST

The Twilight Saga: New Moon took in an estimated $140.7 million (domestically) over the weekend, doubling Twilight's box-office opening, for the third biggest opening weekend of all time. The estimate includes a 43 percent dip for Sunday's box office, so the title could finish even stronger ... if word of the pop culture happening spreads.

The third movie in the series, Eclipse, has already been filmed and is due out June 30, 2010. The fourth book, Breaking Dawn, is rumored to start filming in…

Interview: Nicolas Cage Talks Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Olreans

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:17:00 PST

Nicolas Cage hasn't had a good month. Besides the financial troubles, his father passed away. The press day for The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, directed by legend Werner Herzog, came about a week after that tragedy, and Cage shuffled in looking rather zombie-like. My own father, a Vietnam vet, would've called it the "thousand-yard stare." In other words, Cage should not have been there; his heart was so clearly somewhere else, and it hurt watching him do his best to promote a movie…