The Rage: Carrie II, directed by Katt Shea, is a sequel to Brian De Palma’s 1976 film Carrie. Now in 1999, with a female as director, the plot changes cleverly, though the tagline “Looks can kill” sounds similar. Amy Irving, who appeared in the first Carrie, now plays a school counselor named Sue Snell who […]
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The film Gods and Monster, which won an Oscar for best screenplay, portrays the true story of the last days of James Whale, the director of the first few Frankenstein movies, based on Christopher Bram’s book Father of Frankenstein. The title is a line from the film Bride of Frankenstein, one of many clips from
Hilary and Jackie is the story of two sisters who were pushed by parents to become child prodigies—Hilary du Pré in playing the flute, Jacqueline du Pré as a ‘cellist. During an early life devoted to music, however, neither child reached maturity, and they lacked any identity apart from their musical personas, so they bonded
Patch Adams begins in a mental institution, where the protagonist (played by Robin Williams) realizes that much sickness is rooted in one’s lack of perspective on life, and humor can thus provide curative healing powers. He then enrolls in medical school to bring his newly found wisdom into practice. However, the medical establishment favors keeping
At First Sight tells the story of Shirl Jennings, who became blind when afflicted at age 3 with polio, meningitis, and cat-scratch fever. Shirl (played by Val Kilmer), nevertheless, appears to have adjusted happily to life as a blind person, and he enjoys the profession of masseur. In the film, a busy architect (played by
Historically-based films generally have a solid character, as the scriptwriters and actors try to be authentic. Just before World War I, a 13-year-old schoolboy was expelled from a British military school after being accused of theft and forgery, but when he insisted on his innocence, his banker father sacrificed all to gain an acquittal, thereby
Clint Eastwood has not given up acting as an eccentric do-gooder who gets the job done even if nobody respects him. In True Crime, in the role of aging Oakland newspaper reporter Steve Everett, he saves Frank Beachum, a black man (played by Isaiah Washington) from the gas chamber by discovering clues ignored by the police
Gay-oriented films tend to present problems, sometimes very profound, mixed with tension-release comedy. In Trick, directed by Jim Fall, the problem seems quite simple—that Gabriel (played by Christian Campbell) meets Mark (played by John Paul Pitoc), the two want to have sex, but they are unable to have sex all night, and therein lies the effort
It is 1941. If the Nazis are coming to a small village somewhere in Czechoslovakia, should the Jews calmly await their fate? In Train of Life, a French film (“Train de Vie”) directed by Radu Mihaileanu, the village idiot Shlomo (played by Lionel Abelanski) has an idea: The townspeople should buy a train and ride to
In Trash, which had a premier screening in Hollywood on June 24, youthful director/writer Mark Anthony Galluzzo, has attempted to bring assorted true events of the area near Ocala, Florida, to the screen in order to show the difficulties that poor Whites face in a part of the South where economic opportunities are limited. The tagline