Last night1, Turner Classic Movies kicked off a monthlong series called “Party Politics and the Movies,” in which senators are invited to choose and introduce their favorite films. John Edwards was the inaugural guest, and his selection was almost shockingly bold: Dr. Strangelove. … Edwards was bashful about drawing parallels, but host Ben Mankiewicz finally […]
Kubrick and Politics
Posted by Ben on October 29, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/kubrick-and-politics/
White Noise: The Movie?
Maybe it will happen, and maybe it won’t—but the point is, the very prospect of a White Noise movie is fantastic, if not a little daunting. It’s one of those cases where you hope they don’t mess up (they being the director, screenwriters, actors, etc., etc.) , but where you also don’t quite know how […]
Posted by Ben on October 23, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/white-noise-the-movie/
Hellboy (***1/2)
(2004) Guillermo del Toro – w/ Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, and Doug Jones, Brian Steele & Ladislav Berain in roles as characters you’d never ever recognize in any other film, ever Synopsis: You’ve got yer evil, last ditch Nazi plot to unleash demons, etc., which is oh-so-fortuitiously interrupted before too much […]
Posted by Ben on October 2, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/hellboy/
Spider-Man 2 (***1/2)
In lieu of an actual review, since I’m guessing a movie like Spider-Man isn’t one you need a synopsis and/or thoughtful review for, I’m going to present a pro/con list—reasons why you might like Spider-Man 2 more than you’d expect, and reasons why you might not. Reasons why you might like Spider-Man 2 more than […]
Posted by Ben on September 26, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/spider-man-2/
Once Upon A Time In Mexico (***)
(2003) Robert Rodriguez – Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Rubén Blades, Willem Dafoe, et al. Synopsis: The plot of ‘Once Upon A Time In Mexico’, while not out-and-out absent, is somewhat tenuous; think ‘Desperado II’ (Or ‘El Mariachi 3’, but who’s keeping track), throw in a violently eccentric […]
Posted by Ben on September 18, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/once-upon-a-time-in-mexico/
Innocent underground picnics
Police in Paris have discovered a fully equipped cinema-cum-restaurant in a large and previously uncharted cavern underneath the capital’s chic 16th arrondissement. … After entering the network through a drain next to the Trocadero… officers came across a tarpaulin marked: Building site, No access. Behind that, a tunnel held a desk and a closed-circuit TV […]
Posted by Ben on September 12, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/innocent-underground-picnics/
Kill Bill: Vol 1 (****)
(2003) Quentin Tarantino – w/ Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine (kind of), Michael Madsen, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sonny Chiba, etc., etc., etc. Synopsis: Uma Thurman is The Bride, a would-be escapist from a life of stealthy assassinations, who, (amidst her would-be wedding) is beat up and gunned down […]
Posted by Ben on September 12, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/kill-bill-vol-1/
Mimic (**1/2)
(1997) Guillermo del Toro – Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin, Giancarlo Giannini, Charles S. Dutton Synopsis: In some corners (allmovie, for instance), the plot of Mimic is encapsulated in some description of “shape-shifting bugs,” which I’d like to point out as being patently false. The bugs in Mimic are not shape-shifting; they mimic humans […]
Posted by Ben on September 4, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/mimic/
21 Grams (****1/2)
(2003) dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu – Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Benicio Del Toro, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melissa Leo et al. Synopsis: 21 Grams is a story of guilt and suffering, pain and redemption, etc.; it’s a story of three people and their families, and how their lives become hopelessly entangled. I won’t say any more; it’s […]
Posted by Ben on August 29, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/21-grams/
The Pianist (****)
(2002) Roman Polanski – w/ Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Ed Stoppard, Julia Rayner, Jessica Kate Meyer, etc. Synopsis: ‘The Pianist’ tells the (true) story of Wladyslaw Szpilman (the titular pianist), a Jewish pianist living in Warsaw through the outbreak of WWII. The movie begins with Szpilman in what’s a fairly comfortable position even in spite […]
Posted by Ben on August 21, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/the-pianist/